ICE Surge Causes Media Scrutiny
By Gabby McDonald | Business Manager, Opinions EditorICE
Protestors being shot, illegal immigrants being deported and violence everywhere: news like this is swarming the media since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began ramping up their efforts to detain illegal immigrants under President Donald Trump.
According to USA Facts, ICE agents have been enforcing immigration laws since 2003 when the Homestead Security Act of 2002 was passed under President George W. Bush; however, rising violence in places like Minnesota has brought more publicity to the issue than ever before.
Contrary to what the media shows, deporting illegal immigrants is nothing new. Various presidents, such as former President Barack Obama, have deported mass amounts of illegal immigrants during their terms. In fact, according to the news site Deutsche Welle (DW), experts agree that President Obama deported approximately 100,000 more illegal immigrants than President Trump. The difference is the way in which deportations are being handled.
According to the National Immigration Law Center, on July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the legislation called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) into law. This legislation allowed for ICE to detain a significantly larger number of illegal immigrants compared to previous presidents. In fact, Obama did not sign any new legislations regarding deportations during his presidency, rather, he enforced laws already in effect, giving him the nickname “Deporter in Chief.” However, Obama's deportations were directed towards illegal immigrants already convicted of a crime or already in jail. This type of deportation is called an interior deportation because it is initiated within the United States. President Trump, on the other hand, has taken a different approach. The OBBBA law, which provided $75 billion in funding for ICE, allows for agents to detain any illegal immigrant found within their community, known as “street arrests.” The funding is valid through Sept. 30, 2029.
These “street arrests” are criticized by many U.S. citizens because of the fact that not all illegal immigrants have a criminal record. However, this overlooks the fact that crossing the border illegally and living in the U.S. as a foreign alien is in itself a crime; hence, President Trump’s OBBBA law is increasing mass deportations of all illegal immigrants.
However, ICE activity may be slowing down. According to Local News Live, on Feb. 4, the Trump administration announced that 700 troops were to be withdrawn from Minnesota. Thomas Homan, executive associate director of ICE, announced the news.
“Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration, and as a result of less need for law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment, I have announced effective immediately we will draw down 700 people, effective today,” Homan said.
Despite the fact that Homan said that the order was to be effective immediately, nothing happened. Approximately 2,000 officers remained in Minnesota.
According to the Jefferson City News Tribune, as of Feb. 2o, Homan announced in an interview that his goal was to have 150 agents remain in Minnesota. Today, it is estimated that about 600 agents remain. Although this exceeds the promised 150 agents, the figure is still much lower compared to the 4,000 agents that once occupied Minnesota. Homan said that a full withdrawal is possible, but is dependent on a decrease in threats toward ICE agents.