Texas leads in ICE arrests under Trump administration: Report

DALLAS (NewsNation) — The Trump administration's immigration enforcement has ramped up, and Texas is leading the nation in arrests, according to new data.

One in four arrests nationwide have taken place in Texas, and the state’s numbers have nearly doubled since President Donald Trump returned to office, outpacing every other state, according to new Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained by the Texas Tribune.

Workplace raids on the rise under Trump admin

While Texas is home to the nation’s second-largest undocumented population — more than 1.6 million people of the estimated 13.7 million nationally — immigration attorneys argue local jails have become a direct pipeline to ICE custody.

Under Trump, 60% of detainees have no prior convictions, a sharp rise from the Biden era, and more than half were taken directly from local jails.

David A. Katz, a former assistant U.S. attorney, argued the Trump administration is not focusing on criminals.

"There's just a focus on undocumented people in general, and that's why we've seen the workplace raids. We've seen all of that sort of thing," Katz said. "He's gone after the people who are just working for a living, who are here, albeit illegally."

Attorneys have argued that shift in enforcement priority — from targeting violent offenders to sweeping up non-criminal immigrants — is driving arrest numbers higher in states like Texas and could stretch beyond immigration into voter behavior.

ICE: No plans to target polling sites

In states such as California and New Jersey, immigration advocates say fear of ICE near polling places is keeping some Latino voters home.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, accused the Trump administration of “rolling out enforcement around Election Day."

"You'll see that all across this country. I don't think this; I know this, because we were in those conversations," Newsom said. "You're also going to see ICE deployed. You're going to see these masked men from border patrol also near voting booths and polling places."

ICE has denied those claims, arguing operations are “intelligence-driven” and that it has no plans to target polling locations. However, the agency said it wouldn't rule out arrests if a dangerous, wanted individual was encountered near a polling site.