In 2025, the Dallas-area ICE field office took roughly 12,100 people into custody, and The Dallas Morning News analysis of government records found that 62% of those arrested had no criminal convictions. The surge in arrests and involuntary deportations has upended families and asylum cases across North Texas as enforcement shifted to at-large operations and courthouse arrests.
According to The Dallas Morning News, reporters worked with ICE arrest and removals records that researchers obtained after a public-records lawsuit. The dataset used for the reporting was posted and documented by the Deportation Data Project, and the paper reports that the figures cover Jan. 20 through Oct. 16 and show about a 108% year-over-year jump in arrests in the Dallas area of responsibility.
Those local findings track with a broader national pattern. A Washington Post examination of the same government data found that interior and at-large arrests surged in 2025 and that a large share of people detained in community operations did not have criminal convictions. The Post reports that the government datasets cover roughly 150,000 interior arrests through mid-October and that many recent at-large arrestees lacked convictions or pending charges.
DHS pushes back
The Department of Homeland Security has defended the agency’s enforcement choices and pushed back on how the numbers are being framed. In comments reported by Axios, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said roughly 70% of those arrested by ICE had been charged with or convicted of crimes and argued that the raw-data labels do not capture people who are wanted in other countries or suspected of serious offenses.
Arrests at immigration court and legal challenges
Advocates say a major tactical shift began in May, when ICE increased arrests at immigration court and in surrounding communities in an effort to expand expedited removals for recent entrants. That practice has prompted a class-action lawsuit alleging that courthouse arrests violate due process, the Associated Press reports.
Stories on the ground
The Dallas Morning News profiles people swept up in the enforcement shift, including Brian Ernesto Villalta-Ramos, who arrived from El Salvador in 2024, filed for asylum and was arrested during a scheduled appointment at the Dallas ICE office despite having no criminal record. The paper reports that Villalta-Ramos is being held at a detention center in Georgia and has an immigration court date set for Jan. 14…