Tag Archives: Cato Institute

Latin Times: Street Arrests of Immigrants Without Criminal History by ICE Have Soared 1,100% Since 2017: Study

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The report also found that during recent raids in Los Angeles 72% of ICE arrestees in the area had no criminal convictions, and 59% had no criminal history or pending charges

A new report has revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is arresting noncriminal immigrants on the streets at historically high rates, with arrests of such individuals soaring by nearly 1,100% since 2017.

Citing newly released nonpublic data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by DeportationData.org, the Cato Institute reports that by early June 2025, ICE agents were arresting nearly 3,800 non-criminal immigrants per week outside of custodial settings—such as homes, workplaces, and public spaces—compared to 308 per week during the same period in 2017.

Overall, nearly 5,000 weekly “at-large” ICE arrests were being made in early June, up from 856 in June 2017. Of those, 79% targeted individuals with no criminal convictions. The data analyzed by Cato also indicates that 47% of ICE arrestees during the week of June 1–9 had neither a conviction nor any pending criminal charges.

Street Arrests of Immigrants Without Criminal History by ICE Have Soared 1,100% Since 2017: Study
ICE is arresting noncriminal immigrants on the streets at historically high rates, with arrests of such individuals soaring by nearly 1,100% since 2017.

https://www.latintimes.com/street-arrests-immigrants-without-criminal-history-ice-have-soared-1100-since-2017-study-585593

Wall Street Journal: Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration

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The Trump administration’s aggressive deportation program is testing the political bounds of what Americans will tolerate, spurring a backlash from voters and some Republicans and testing the administration’s resolve.

Federal officials in recent weeks have stepped up raids on worksites and farms, seeking to fulfill President Trump’s pledge of mass deportations. The move has sparked alarm in immigrant communities and street protests in Los Angeles and other cities. Last weekend, Trump directed that arrests be paused at farms and hotels, only to reverse the directive days later.

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Republican members of Congress from California, Texas and Florida have publicly urged the White House to give priority to deportations of criminals rather than migrants who have resided in the U.S. for long periods and have otherwise obeyed the law. The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R., Pa.), called the farm raids “just wrong.” The co-founder of Latinas for Trump, Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia, wrote on X that the administration’s actions were “unacceptable and inhumane” and “not what we voted for.”

“I may have voted for Trump, but I can’t stay silent about what’s happening with ICE in LA,” Ryan Garcia, a former interim lightweight boxing champion who endorsed Trump last year, wrote on X. “We can have borders without losing our humanity.”

Presidents of both parties have historically hesitated to pursue large-scale immigration enforcement in the country’s interior precisely because it tends to be politically unpopular. Trump’s push for deportations far from the border has begun to trigger a backlash in public opinion, with polls showing his approval rating on immigration and deportations—formerly one of his strongest issues—has now turned negative.

A Quinnipiac poll earlier this month found that just 43% approved of Trump’s performance on immigration while 54% disapproved. On deportations, 40% approved while 56% disapproved. In the polling average maintained by the analyst Nate Silver, Trump’s immigration policies were popular on a net basis until earlier this month—but are now more unpopular than popular by a 3-point margin. 

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-is-losing-political-ground-on-immigration-20de43bc

Also here:

Trump Is Losing Political Ground on Immigration
The administration’s aggressive deportation push has alarmed voters, including some of the president’s supporters.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-is-losing-political-ground-on-immigration/ar-AA1H5df5

Raw Story: ‘Lies!’ Trump DHS officials torn apart over attempt to sweep allegations away

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The Department of Homeland Security is vehemently denying allegations that it engaged in mass racial profiling in its immigration raids, but David J. Bier of the libertarian Cato Institute isn’t buying those denials for an instant.

DHS’s denials came last week in response to a report by the Los Angeles Times that a number of immigrant communities fear that stops and arrests are being done randomly against people based primarily on their appearance.

“Any claims that individuals have been ‘targeted’ by law enforcement because of their skin color are disgusting and categorically FALSE,” DHS posted to its official X account. “These types of smears are designed to demonize and villainize our brave ICE law enforcement. DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence. We know who we are targeting ahead of time. If and when we do encounter individuals subject to arrest, our law enforcement is trained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removability.”

But Bier couldn’t help but notice a telling omission from the denial.

“Of course they don’t link to the article which gives the proof that this is happening. DHS LIES,” he wrote, posting a damning passage from the very beginning of the original article:

“Brian Gavidia had stepped out from working on a car at a tow yard in a Los Angeles suburb Thursday, when armed, masked men — wearing vests with ‘Border Patrol’ on them — pushed him up against a metal gate and demanded to know where he was born,” the Times reported. “‘I’m American, bro!’ 29-year-old Gavidia pleaded, in video taken by a friend. ‘What hospital were you born?’ the agent barked. ‘I don’t know, dawg!’ he said. ‘East L.A., bro! I can show you: I have my f—ing Real ID.’ His friend, whom Gavidia did not name, narrated the video: ‘These guys, literally based off of skin color! My homie was born here!’ The friend said Gavidia was being questioned ‘just because of the way he looks.'”

‘Lies!’ Trump DHS officials torn apart over attempt to sweep allegations away

https://www.rawstory.com/dhs-profiling

Alternet: ‘One of the worst’: Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem slammed for ‘false accusation’ against man who was framed

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Authorities have acknowledged an error in their initial assessment of a Wisconsin man who was arrested last month under suspicion of threatening President Donald Trump, CNN reported Tuesday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secretary Kristi Noem had previously labeled Ramón Morales Reyes, an undocumented immigrant, as a potential threat based on threatening letters allegedly written by him. However, a subsequent investigation revealed that Morales Reyes, who cannot read or write in English, was framed by Demetric Deshawn Scott, a 52-year-old man from Milwaukee.

Bimbo #2 doesn’t care who or what she hurts. Just ask her goat or puppy.

Never mind, the goat & puppy are dead — Bimbo #2 shot them.

‘One of the worst’: Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem slammed for ‘false accusation’ against man who was framed

https://www.alternet.org/kristi-noem-dhs

The Conversation: Surge of ICE agreements with local police aim to increase deportations, but many police forces have found they undermine public safety

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Part of that operation includes what’s known as the federal 287(g) program. Established in 1996, it allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose work is normally carried out by federal officials, to train state and local authorities to function as federal immigration officers.

Under 287(g), for example, local police officers can interview people to determine their immigration status. They can also issue immigration detainers to jail people until agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement take custody.

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Since Trump began his second term in January, ICE has increased 287(g) agreements from 135 in 25 states in December 2024 to 628 in 40 states as of May 28, 2025.

As a criminal justice scholar, I believe the surge of 287(g) agreements sets a dangerous precedent for local policing, where forging relationships and building the trust of immigrants is a proven and effective tactic in combating crime. In my view, the expansion of 287(g) will erode that trust and makes entire communities – not just immigrants – less safe.

Surge of ICE agreements with local police aim to increase deportations, but many police forces have found they undermine public safety
History shows that building the trust of immigrants is an effective tactic in combating local crime and making entire communities safer.

https://theconversation.com/surge-of-ice-agreements-with-local-police-aim-to-increase-deportations-but-many-police-forces-have-found-they-undermine-public-safety-255937

Latin Times: Venezuelans Deported To El Salvador Are Getting Cases Dismissed And Advocates Say It’s To ‘Complete Their Disappearance’

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At least 14 cases have reportedly taken place over the past weeks

Venezuelans deported to El Salvador are increasingly seeing their cases dismissed, a development advocates claim is a way to complete their “disappearance” from the U.S. legal system and further complicate their return from imprisonment in the Central American country.

NBC News reported that at least 14 asylum cases have been dismissed over the past weeks. “It seems the government’s intention in dismissing these cases across the country is to complete the disappearance of people to El Salvador, to end their legal proceedings, and to act as though they weren’t here seeking asylum in the first place,” Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, told the outlet. She is representing Andry Hernandez Romero, who was involved in such a case before being sent to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador.

Venezuelans Deported To El Salvador Are Getting Cases Dismissed And Advocates Say It’s To ‘Complete Their Disappearance’
At least 14 migrants deported to El Salvador have seen their asylum cases dismissed in the U.S. Advocates say the goal is completing their “disappearance” of the country’s legal system

https://www.latintimes.com/venezuelans-deported-el-salvador-are-getting-cases-dismissed-advocates-say-its-complete-their-583953

Talking Points Memo: More Than 50 Men Entered The US Legally Only To Later Be Sent To CECOT, Report Finds

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More than two months after the Trump administration flew more than 200 people to a detention camp in El Salvador, there’s still a lot that remains unclear.

We still don’t know who, exactly, the government sent there. We don’t know how many people were aboard each plane that went from Texas to El Salvador on March 15; we don’t know who was removed under the wartime Alien Enemies Act, and who was removed under more standard immigration authorities. The question of whether non-citizens that the U.S. government is paying El Salvador to hold are entitled to habeas corpus protections is also, somewhat ominously, unanswered.

It’s shocking given the lawlessness of the operation: the Trump administration sought to shield these removals from judicial scrutiny from the start, and, per the finding of one federal judge, sought to delay a court hearing until the airplanes could depart for El Salvador.

A report published this week by the Cato Institute adds another egregious fact to this story: many of those sent to El Salvador entered the United States legally.

The researchers behind the study attempted to learn as much as they could about a list of 238 men rendered to CECOT, the El Salvador prison, on March 15, obtained and reported by CBS News. They found that at least 50 of the more than 200 men sent to El Salvador complied with U.S. immigration law as they entered the country.

Their resulting removal and indefinite confinement in El Salvador has been a betrayal, David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute and the author of the study, told TPM.

So much for due process and the Bill of Rights in Trump’s Amerika!

More Than 50 Men Entered The US Legally Only To Later Be Sent To CECOT, Report Finds
More than two months after the Trump administration flew more than 200…

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/more-than-50-men-entered-the-us-legally-only-to-later-be-sent-to-cecot-report-finds

NSNBC: Trump isn’t cutting red tape. He’s creating more of it for average Americans.

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Trump plans would make it harder to get Medicaid, register to vote and pay your taxes.

But when it comes to average Americans, the president and his allies in Congress are fine with making it harder to file your taxes, receive benefits, access government services or register to vote.

Consider a few recent examples:

• The Trump administration plans to end an IRS pilot program that allowed some taxpayers with simple returns to file their federal taxes online for free. 

• In the megabill comprising much of Trump’s first-year agenda, House Republicans are moving ahead with new work requirements to qualify for health insurance through Medicaid.

• The Trump administration developed a plan (since rescinded) to require more Americans applying for Social Security to visit offices in person to prove their identities.

• Another Republican bill would require ID such as a passport or a birth certificate to register to vote (and a marriage certificate, too, if you’re a woman who changed her name).

Let’s call this what it is: red tape — needless box-checking, form-filling and drudgery that accomplishes nothing except making it harder for Americans to get what they need.

Opinion | Republican red tape
Trump plans would make it harder to get Medicaid, register to vote and pay your taxes.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-medicaid-social-security-red-tape-rcna207999

MSNBC: The Trump administration likely sent scores of legal immigrants to a foreign prison

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The Cato Institute published the most comprehensive review to date of how the roughly 240 Venezuelans expelled to El Salvador came to the United States.

This week, the Cato Institute published the most comprehensive review to date of how the roughly 240 Venezuelans expelled on March 15 came to the United States. We found that at least 50 reported that they arrived in the United States legally before being subject to arbitrary arrest, detention and rendition to El Salvador without due process.

Information about the men was not easy to obtain. The U.S. government has aggressively suppressed disclosures. It not only denied them any due process before their imprisonment, leaving no court records, but it has failed to detail any individual explanations either.

In fact, DHS has refused even to confirm who it has imprisoned there, leaving families to rely on incomplete leaks to the media to uncover the whereabouts of their loved ones. As for the men, they are being held incommunicado — with no ability to communicate with their attorneys, families or the outside world at all — so they can’t tell their stories.

We attempted to fill this void by compiling all known information about these men. 

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Some of the CBP One applicants sent to El Salvador were initially detained at their interview, but two dozen were first granted parole, a legal designation that permitted them to enter, live and work legally in the United States — which they did until their arrest and imprisonment in El Salvador. 

One of the now-imprisoned men entered as a tourist, and four men came through the U.S. refugee admissions program — where U.S. refugee officers believed they would face persecution abroad and officially approved them for resettlement. These refugees expected to receive a permanent legal status and a path to U.S. citizenship when they came here. Instead, they were handcuffed, detained and rendered to a foreign prison in March. 

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The government has selectively released information about some men who it wants to discredit, noting whenever possible if they entered illegally, but it has not rebutted the claims made by the legal immigrants’ families and attorneys.

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For instance, Jerce Reyes Barrios — a former Venezuelan professional soccer player — came to the United States with advanced permission via a CBP One appointment (confirmation of which his attorney still has). In response, a DHS official said Reyes Barrios “was in the country illegally,” but this doesn’t explain DHS’s actions: he arrived legally with a CBP One appointment in accordance with all U.S. laws. It was DHS that made him technically be “in the country illegally” by arresting him based on his tattoos and denying him entry.

DHS also disappeared Ricardo Jesus Prada Vasquez and then lied to the family about his whereabouts for weeks, only admitting to his rendition after The New York Times reported on the case. In his case, DHS said that he had “entered the United States illegally … via the CBP One App.” But it was legal to enter via the CBP One app, so he didn’t enter illegally. 

DHS claims that these legal immigrants are all members of a Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA). But in nearly all the men’s cases, DHS was not able to identify any crimes committed, and background checks run by Bloomberg, The New York Times and CBS News have found that the vast majority have no criminal record in the United States or abroad.///

DHS’ gang identification is based on little more than their tattoos. According to court documents, DHS is using a checklist to deem people “gang members” based primarily on common tattoos, clothing and other imprecise signs …

DHS is arresting, detaining and expelling legal immigrants: student visa holders, tourists, refugees, parolees and even legal permanent residents who have no criminal records. In this case, it went further: to imprison them.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-dhs-legal-immigrants-el-salvador-prison-report-rcna207751