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DEMOCRACY WATCHCaught in the Crackdown: As Arrests at Anti-ICE Protests Piled Up, Prosecutions Crumbled
Over the past 10 months, President Donald Trump’s administration has made much of its success in sweeping through U.S. cities, capturing unauthorized immigrants and arresting people who publicly oppose the operations, routinely accusing dissenters of being domestic terrorists or extremists. Less clear to the public is what has happened to those charged.
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IMMIGRATIONWhy We Went Looking for National Defense Areas Along the U.S. Southern Border
The federal government is charging a skyrocketing number of migrants with trespassing in military zones. The boundaries can be hard to pinpoint — even for investigative reporters.
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IMMIGRATIONThe Trump Administration’s “Disturbing” New Legal Strategy to Prosecute Border Crossers Is Taxing Courts and Testing the Law
One man, who admitted he had entered the U.S. illegally and was ready to be deported, sat in jail for 40 days over unfounded allegations of trespassing on military land. The Justice Department keeps pursuing similar cases, puzzling legal experts.
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CRIMETry As He Might, Trump Can’t Take Credit for the Nation’s Murder Drop
The Trace has fact-checked the president’s claims about violent crime and immigrants during his State of the Union.
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DEPORTATIONSThe Illusion of Reform: Why DHS Restraints Fail Without a Path to the Courthouse
Correcting DHS’s deplorable behavior will not be accomplished by a small tweak to the specific ways in which agents target civilians, but rather by a strong deterrent. Now is the time to demand systemic reform. We must ensure that no government agent is above the law or cloaked in immunity.
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IMMIGRATIONStudy: Texas’ Controversial Migrant Busing Program Helped Trump in 2024 Election
Texas busing programs that transported newly-arrived immigrants to Democratic-led cities boosted President Donald Trump’s vote share in affected counties during the 2024 election.
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THE PROBLEM WITH ICEHow the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Shaped ICE’s Immigration Strategy
The immigration enforcement response to 9/11 set the stage for ICE’s aggressive conduct. Under this way of thinking, if the homeland is under threat, then those who challenge immigration enforcement are “domestic terrorists.” Investigations into ICE officers are muted, for the officers are protecting the homeland against existential danger. Severe tactics to detain immigrants and condemn protesters – and violate U.S. citizens’ constitutional protections — become not only permissible but also advisable.
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IMMIGRATIONImmigrant Surge Helped Boost GOP States’ Population, and They May Gain U.S. House Seats as a Result
The millions of immigrants who have crossed the border with Mexico since 2020 could change the balance of political power in Congress — but in a way likely to boost Republican states that emphasize border security, at the expense of more welcoming Democratic states.
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THE ICE PROBLEMState Lawmakers Stand Ready to Help ICE — or Impede It
Tensions rise nationwide over aggressive enforcement tactics and deadly encounters. As lawmakers convene for this year’s state legislative sessions, immigration has surged to the top of the agenda.
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DEPORTATIONSICE Is Using Medicaid Data to Find Out Where Immigrants Live
A recent court ruling has cleared the way for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to resume using states’ Medicaid data to find people who are in the country illegally. States fear immigrants will shy away from seeking health care.
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BORDER SECURITYSmall Boats and Shifting Threats: Britain Can't Keep Fighting Yesterday's Battle in the Channel
U.K. core challenge today is not simply the volume of arrivals, but the rapidly evolving criminal ecosystems that facilitate them. Smuggling networks are adjusting faster than governmental policy tools, by shifting routes, exploiting digital platforms, and experimenting with new forms of coercion and revenue generation. Unless the UK and its European partners update their approach in 2026, they risk merely managing arrivals rather than disrupting the criminal systems that drive them.
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ARGUMENT: DANGEROUS TACTICS, DANGEROUS SILENCEDOJ’s Dangerous Silence in the Face of Federal Immigration Agents’ Violent Tactics
The killing in Minneapolis is but the latest in a series of incidents involving federal immigration agents’ use of apparent excessive force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and federal criminal law. Samantha Trepel writes that DOJ has remained disturbingly silent through months of these tactics. “This silence is a dangerous abdication of DOJ’s authority and responsibility.” Unfortunately, DOJ’s current abdication of responsibility “puts communities at needless risk and undermines the rule of law itself.”
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IMMIGRATIONHow a Manhattan Institute Comparison of Immigrant Incarceration Rates Is Rhetorically Misleading
I compared incarceration rates between Somali immigrants, native-born Americans, all legal immigrants, and all illegal immigrants in the 18–54 age range. The Somali adult (18-54) immigrant incarceration rate in the US in 2023 was slightly below that of native-born Americans, according to American Community Survey.
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ICE’S DANGEROUS TACTICSICE Killing of Driver in Minneapolis Involved Tactics Many Police Departments Warn Against − but Not ICE Itself
Debates over deadly force are often contentious, but for the most part there is consensus on one point: Policing should reflect a commitment to valuing human life and prioritizing its protection. One expression of that commitment is the prohibition on shooting at moving vehicles – but ICE’s policy on shooting at moving vehicles lacks a clear instruction for officers to get out of the way of moving vehicles where feasible. It’s an omission at odds with generally recognized best practices in policing.
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ICE’S DANGEROUS TACTICSHow Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids?
The Trace has identified 16 incidents in which immigration agents opened fire and another 15 incidents in which agents held someone at gunpoint since the crackdown began. At least three people have been shot observing or documenting immigration raids, and five people have been shot while driving away from traffic stops or evading an enforcement action.
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The long view
THE PROBLEM WITH ICEHow the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks Shaped ICE’s Immigration Strategy
The immigration enforcement response to 9/11 set the stage for ICE’s aggressive conduct. Under this way of thinking, if the homeland is under threat, then those who challenge immigration enforcement are “domestic terrorists.” Investigations into ICE officers are muted, for the officers are protecting the homeland against existential danger. Severe tactics to detain immigrants and condemn protesters – and violate U.S. citizens’ constitutional protections — become not only permissible but also advisable.