Thawing Hope, Freezing Futures: ICE’s Cold Crackdown

February 10th, 2025

Brogan Jones

Donald Trump and immigration policies have a long and tumultuous history. Throughout Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, he would often repeat the phrase “Build the wall” at his rallies, referencing his proposed immigration solution to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep illegal immigrants from crossing over into the United States. More recently, a primary point of concern surrounding the Trump administration’s newly-greenlit sequel has been whether or not the President would deliver on several aggressive campaign promises. Once again, his elevated rhetoric surrounding border security has been prominent, including a promise to use military force for mass deportations. These specific goals have had citizens nationwide worried for themselves and their neighbors. Now, less than a month into his second administration, the new President is making good on these promises.

Despite claiming large victories in fighting illegal immigration during his first term, many policy analysts found that illegal immigration grew under Trump's leadership. Likely wanting to avoid that same outcome this time around, the President is already making aggressive strides towards curbing illegal immigration. Since Trump’s inauguration, ICE raids have ramped up viciously, predominantly in major U.S. cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, among others. The administration even boasted the most amount of arrests in a single day via these raids. This is due not just to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s more frequent appearances, but also to their more calculated strategies. Fervent support from the Trump Administration is giving ICE never-before-seen power to track and deport illegal immigrants residing in the United States. New ICE directives and approaches are arising under this eagle-eyed leadership, as the emboldened organization seeks new tactics to solve the supposed “border crisis” that Trump frequently criticized the Biden administration for failing to squash. In a move that the President claims to be rooted in avoiding such failures, Trump has directed the agency to put into use creative tracking and detaining ruses, leading several mass raiding incidents to transpire across the nation.

One such incident occurred on the fifth of February in Colorado, when federal agents raided several metro Denver apartment buildings. The raid was a collaboration between federal officers from several bureaus, with the alleged goal being to seek out members of a dangerous Venezuelan gang. The vast majority of the confrontation occurred in an apartment building in Aurora–a suburb of Denver–which went viral in the news last September for the very same problem. Reports of the gang taking violent control of the Aurora apartment building not only stoked the flames of the immigration debate during election season, but they are also likely the reason for the raid that occurred on the fifth.

In the midst of these raids and elevated rhetoric surrounding immigration, parties in opposition to Trump’s policies are mobilizing like never before. Several protestants are not being quiet in their disapproval of the current administration’s immigration policies. Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union are encouraging illegal immigrants to know their rights so that they can avoid arrest and deportation. Politicians from the other side of the aisle, such as New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are also making their position on the matter known. On an episode of Latino USA, which aired on the second of February, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez stated, “The fear is real. That is how authoritarianism works. These are the tools to get us to sacrifice and surrender our civil liberties more than they take them”, underscoring the difference that compliance vs. non-compliance with ICE can make during these raids.

While the full extent of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration remains to be seen, early actions by ICE and federal officers indicate that enforcement on this issue is likely to be vicious during these next four years. As Trump continues to find his footing and make further strides towards achieving his political goals, staying informed on these rapidly-evolving policies will be crucial.