The most horrendous moves ICE has made since Trump took office

When President Trump took office, immigration activists prepared for the worst. Though President Obama had come to be known as the “Deporter-in-Chief” and both parties have made a point to appear tough on immigration in recent years, immigrants—particularly in Latinx and Muslim communities—knew the next four years would be difficult.

This has proven sadly prophetic. Though Trump’s legislative ineptitude has saved America from a border wall and the mass deportation of Dreamers so far, what he has done is use his executive powers to make life a nightmare for many immigrant communities. And the centerpiece of this non-stop harassment campaign against America’s immigrants has been ICE.

Under Trump, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has expanded and become more hardline, adopting jackboot tactics and testing the limits of public decency and civic duty. From camping out at courthouses to targeting victims of domestic abuse, ICE plumbs new depths of authoritarian inhumanity with each passing month. Since the organization enjoys the full support of President Trump, ICE agents have time and again pushed the boundaries of what we deem acceptable in America, and their actions have repeatedly gone beyond an inhumanity that many thought impossible.

Though there are going to be many stains on this era in American life and many low points in Trump’s presidency, the expansion and empowerment of ICE will cast one of the darkest shadows over this moment in history. ICE made an estimated 143,470 arrests for the fiscal year 2017—a three-year high—and yet we still don’t yet know the full scope of abuses the agency has done under Trump. If the first year of his term is any indication, ICE will continue to be a national embarrassment and destroy people’s lives.

Here the worst stories concerning ICE that have made news in the last year.

Feb. 8: ICE Agents waiting outside of an Alexandria, Virginia, shelter inside of Hope United Methodist Mission Church detain seven homeless men just before 7a.m. One of the men detained, Marvin Roach, says of the incident, “I’ve never seen anything like this. It happened really fast. It was like a kidnapping.”

Feb. 9: 33 year-old transgender woman Irvin Gonzalez is arrested by ICE while attempting to obtain a restraining order against an abusive ex-boyfriend at an El Paso, Texas, courthouse. ICE learned of her whereabouts while she was staying at a shelter for victims of domestic abuse. Gonzalez believes it was the abusive ex who tipped off immigration authorities.

Feb. 22: ICE agents in Austin, Texas, conduct a series of raids in which they detain more non-criminals than criminals. Of 51 people arrested, 28 are officially identified as “non-criminals.”

Feb. 28: Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez of Los Angeles is detained by ICE agents while taking his daughter to school. Avelica-Gonzalez was dropping off his 12-year-old daughter when he was arrested; his 14-year-old daughter recorded the incident from their car. ICE agents leveraged a 20-year-old case of driving under the influence to justify his detention.

March 21: NPR reports on four Denver women who have dropped domestic violence charges against abusive partners out of fear of ICE deportation. The women are part of a nationwide trend.

March 27: In a pre-dawn raid, Wilmer Catalan-Ramirez of Chicago is arrested by ICE agents. The agents, who had no warrant, justified the raid because Catalan-Ramirez appeared in their “gang database” despite never having been a gang member. Catalan-Ramirez was reportedly slammed to the floor and handcuffed during the raid, exacerbating pre-existing injuries and causing severe eye damage. He has since been awarded a settlement by the city of Chicago.

April 28: Data obtained by the Washington Post reveals that half of immigrants detained by ICE in early Trump administration sweeps had only traffic offenses or no criminal record.

July 6: A plainclothes ICE agent allegedly pulls a gun on a woman during a road-rage incident on a California highway. The woman reported that the agent told her to “pull the…over or I’m going to shoot you,” and then proceeded to point a gun at her and put on a bulletproof vest. ICE agents have no traffic jurisdiction.

Aug. 28: The ACLU releases a statement protesting an ICE request to the National Archives and Records Administration that would allow them to destroy or retain various records of activity within the agency. These records include details regarding solitary confinement, sexual assault, and deaths in custody.

Sept. 13: Two Arizona Motel 6 locations are raided after franchise employees hand over their guest lists to ICE. This is thought to be a part of broader cooperation by the motel chain with immigration officials. ICE agents have been accused of paying off employees in exchange for their assistance.

Sept. 20: An ACLU observer captures video of what appears to be a clear case of racial profiling and intimidation outside of an Oregon courthouse by ICE agents. Isidro Andrade-Tafolla and his wife were followed after leaving a courthouse in what ICE officials insist is a case of mistaken identity. Two plainclothes agents confronted them, never identifying themselves during the incident. Andrade-Tafolla is a government employee and U.S. citizen. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) have called for a federal investigation into the matter.

Sept. 28: ICE agents conclude a four-day raid deliberately targeting so-called sanctuary cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York. In total, 498 people are arrested. Critics view the raid as retribution for the anti-Trump agenda advanced in these areas.

Oct. 16: U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) and state Rep. Barbara Flynn Curry (D) publicly accuse ICE agents of racial profiling and wrongly identifying themselves as police officers at a community event. One undocumented immigrant who spoke recounted seeing ICE agents wearing vests marked “POLICE” outside of a grocery store.

Oct. 16: The Intercept publishes emails between ICE officials and then-Homeland Security director (and now Chief of Staff) John Kelly directing ICE to portray illegal immigrants as criminals to justify raids. The emails encourage ICE officials to come up with “egregious cases” of criminal behavior among some of those detained to build a narrative that would justify their detention of non-criminals.

Oct. 30: The Detroit Free Press reports that two brothers are deported to Mexico after they serve as witnesses in a murder case and assist police in solving the crime. The brothers were reportedly told that their cooperation made them eligible for a special visa that would allow them to stay in the U.S. prior to their deportation.

Nov. 20: ICE Officials admit to using a gang database as a tool to indiscriminately round up illegal immigrants. In saying that they use this gang database, ICE also admitted that they “stack” these databases with people who are not gang members and/or have not committed any crimes. One ICE agent went as far as to tell CBS that the only evidence they had against one person captured through the database was that they had been known to “flash gang signs.” Another person was apprehended simply on the grounds they were a “gang associate.”

Nov. 28: Plainclothes ICE agents drag Genaro Rojas Hernandez out of a Brooklyn courthouse while he is speaking to his lawyer, Rebecca Kavanaugh. A scuffle ensues in which court officers allegedly assist ICE officers in making the arrest, restraining several Legal Aid employees nearby.

Nov. 29: Broadly releases a report on mistreatment of pregnant women in ICE custody. Jennye Pagoada Lopez details her miscarriage while in custody despite having a high-risk pregnancy, saying she came the U.S. seeking asylum after her relatives were murdered by gang members. Hers is just one of 10 instances of grave mistreatment of pregnant women in ICE custody detailed in the article—even though ICE has a policy against detaining pregnant women.

Dec. 19: A Florida judge blocks the deportation of 92 Somalis following accusations of inhumane treatment by ICE agents. During an attempted deportation flight from Louisiana to Somalia, several detainees suffered broken bones and bruises after being “shackled for hours.” The flight itself was reportedly unusually long, having been rerouted to Senegal and then Miami.

Jan. 10: ICE agents raid 98 7-Eleven convenience stores in 17 states; 16 of the stores visited were in the New York City area. Agents characterize the operation as “a warning” to other companies employing undocumented immigrants.

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