ICE arrests 956 Sunday as nationwide raids continue
(NewsNation) — During his first week back in office, President Donald Trump’s administration carried out nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. The agency reported 956 arrests on Sunday alone.
That number follows the arrest of roughly 1,300 people by Thursday, according to “border czar” Tom Homan.
The number of arrests in the first three days of Trump’s presidency represents about 1.1% of total arrests made by ICE in FY 2024. Then, there were about 310 average daily arrests. That average is now about 433 per day — a number that will likely grow.
Here’s where the operations happened on Sunday.
Chicago
Top Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan and acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, visited Chicago on Sunday to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcement in the nation’s third-largest city.
The DEA’s Chicago office posted pictures on X showing Homan and Bove with agents from ATF and Customs and Border Protection.
Homan told NewsNation’s Ali Bradley that multiple “public safety threats” were arrested, including sex offenders, convicted murderers and Tren de Aragua members. Sources involved told NewsNation that five Tren de Aragua gang members were arrested in the Chicago deportation operations.
The operation comes just days after reports leaked of mass deportation raids planned in the Windy City.
Chicago and state officials, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, have vowed to protect immigrant communities from mass deportations.
Mayor Brandon Johnson shared on X: “We’ve received reports of ICE enforcement activity in Chicago today. Please know that Chicago police were not involved. My team and I are working closely with City officials.”
Denver
ICE took nearly 50 people into custody — including members of the Tren de Aragua gang — in an overnight raid at a “makeshift nightclub,” according to an X post from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division.
Of the 49 arrested, ICE said “at least” 41 were inside the U.S. illegally.
The DEA, Homeland Security, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ICE, and “local partners” seized drugs, weapons and cash in the raid.
The raid was connected to a DEA drug trafficking investigation that began several months before President Donald Trump took office during the Biden Administration, a DEA official told NewsNation, local affiliate KDVR reported.
Austin, Texas
A series of ICE raids were conducted in Austin on Sunday, DEA sources confirmed to NewsNation affiliate KXAN.
“The raids are underway or have been done,” said Sally Sparks, a DEA Houston Division spokesperson, in a phone call.
In an X post, the Houston DEA Division confirmed the DEA is working with Department of Justice partners, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement partners with these efforts.
