April 14, 2026
Data Reveals Black Immigrants Targeted In Aggressive New ‘Street Arrest’ Report
Report author David Hausman, co-director of the Deportation Data Project and assistant professor of law at UC Berkeley, says while the facts about ICE arrests are public, but that's not the whole story.
A new report from the Deportation Data Project confirms that Black immigrants are targeted by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during “street arrests,” adding to the narrative that the safety of “everyday life” is under attack, The Grio reports.
The “One Year of Immigration Enforcement” report highlights a massive increase in “street arrests” for Black undocumented immigrants, an aggressive tactic where federal agents arrest individuals in their own neighborhoods, courthouses, or during routine check-ins at ICE field offices. For the disenfranchised demographic, the report marks a new era of danger at the hands of law enforcement for a group that already faces systemic disparities.
Known as an “arrest anyone, anywhere” approach, the tactic stems from record-high detention numbers seen nationwide. Data shows the number of ICE agents detaining immigrants with no criminal convictions has increased by more than 800%. The release rate for detainees without criminal records decreased from 35% to just 7%.
According to NBC News, the report’s analysis is based on data from a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act covering arrests through March 10 of 2026. Report author David Hausman, co-director of the Deportation Data Project and assistant professor of law at UC Berkeley, says that while the facts about ICE arrests are public, that’s not the whole story. “It’s well known that ICE has been pursuing a campaign of indiscriminate arrests, but it’s less well known that even as ICE has arrested more people who likely could win their cases and stay in the United States, arrests have been ending more often in deportation,” Hausman said in a statement.
“One big factor is that detention causes people to give up on their cases.”
However, a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security claims the projected data is incorrect, adding “70% of ICE arrests are criminal illegal aliens” and how the department continues “to go after the worst of the worst — including gang members, pedophiles, and rapists.” “Every single one of these individuals committed a crime when they came into this country illegally. The Deportation Data Project relies on information releases that have not been reviewed, audited, or given context,” the spokesperson said.
“DHS nor ICE have verified the accuracy, methodology, or the analysis of the project and its results. The bottom line is that the Deportation Data Project is not accurate.”
But the Deportation Data Project stands by the notion that “these are ICE’s own records of who is arrested, detained, and deported” regarding the data amid the increase of arrests during the first nine months of the Trump administration, and not just in Democratic-led cities such as Minneapolis. Graeme Blair, co-director of the Deportation Data Project and professor of political science at UCLA, says “even at the peak of the Minneapolis surge,” street arrests accounted for only 15%. “The expansion is truly national,” Blair said.
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