While the Trump-era administration sought to implement heightened immigration enforcement nationwide and notably in Chicago, a marked uptick in detained immigrants, including those with no criminal history, in the Chicago vicinity has been observed. This revelation is the result of data analysis conducted by the Deportation Data Project, a research group. The group’s research indicates that when Trump’s administration enacted stronger enforcement measures in sanctuary cities like Chicago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported significant surges in detentions at two ICE processing facilities in the region.
Highlighting this was a particular instance in early June, which drew focus due to disputes between Chicago locals and federal immigration officials. The data revealed that of the 88 immigrants apprehended that day, a significant three-quarters of them had no prior criminal records as per ICE. This increase in detention, involving immigrants without any documented criminal history, is reflective of wider patterns observed throughout the country.
Under Trump’s second term, there was a concerted effort to increase arrests of individuals without legal residency status, even if such actions resulted in additional detentions of those who were previously not the main concern of ICE – those without any serious criminal offences. The local impact of these efforts seems to follow a similar pattern – the rate of detainments of individuals convicted of violent felonies and sex crimes doubled, while the number of immigrants with no criminal background arrested surged by nine times.
Evidence for these findings was gathered through a lawsuit aimed at compelling ICE to reveal the data under the Freedom of Information Act. The data, although instrumental in providing insight into these trends, nonetheless have particular limiting factors. Notably, they do not specify the cities nor counties of arrest, making it impossible to accurately count the number of arrests in specific locations such as Chicago or its suburbs.
However, the data do record the instances and timing of bookings into ICE’s Broadview and Chicago facilities. This information provides a semblance of the scale of detentions in the Chicago region and the type of individuals being detained under these circumstances. A closer examination of the data reveals distinct patterns that characterized the early days of the Trump administration compared to the final stages of the Biden administration.
An interesting observation is that during the initial 150 days of Trump’s tenure, the number of detained immigrants with criminal convictions was tripled compared to the last 150 days of Biden’s time in office. However, detentions of immigrants with no known criminal record under Trump were almost nine times higher. Those recorded as having criminal convictions saw a substantial increase, with almost double the number of individuals having been booked for violent felonies or sex crimes compared to during Biden’s last 150 days.
Nonetheless, a noteworthy trend was also observed, highlighting that a significant proportion of the bookings for convicted immigrants under Trump’s administration were for individuals who had committed milder offenses. This trend was epitomized by a nearly fivefold rise in detentions for drunken-driving or traffic violations.
Examining the detentions at Chicago’s facilities, the data revealed that about half of the detainees during Trump’s second term had a criminal conviction. However, a third of the detainees had no known criminal history. Removals from the Chicago area during Trump’s administration show that the majority of deportees were of Mexican origin.
Curiously though, since inauguration day, most of the removed individuals with a clean criminal record were born in Venezuela. The youngest person removed during this period was a boy born in 2021. Though the data do not provide specific details of his travel companions, it indicates that the boy arrived and departed the United States with a married Venezuelan woman in her thirties and three other children, none of whom had any known criminal history.
These five individuals arrived in the United States in July 2023, were issued deportation orders in March 2024, detained in Illinois on June 11, and subsequently returned to Venezuela just five days later. From the other end of the age spectrum, the oldest individual removed was a man born in Mexico in 1957.
The data offer a deeper understanding of the demographic details and trends related to immigrant detentions and deportations. It underscores the substantial shift that occurred in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, and how it led to a considerable increase in the number of arrests and deportations, especially among those without any criminal past.
These findings thus draw attention to the necessity of comprehensive immigration reform and making enforcement measures fair and just. They also highlight the impacts of such reforms not just on individuals with criminal records, but also on the wide range of immigrants seeking refuge in the United States.
However, it is important to note that the data have limitations, and while they provide insights into the trends of detentions and deportations, they do not offer a complete picture. A fuller understanding of the issue at hand would require more detailed and location-specific data.
Nevertheless, the analysis presents a compelling call to address the immigration enforcement policies and practices under scrutiny. A more balanced approach to law enforcement would help to ensure justice for all detainees, regardless of their legal status or past criminal records.
The post Sharp Rise in Immigrant Detention Rates Under Trump Administration appeared first on Real News Now.
About Author
