This CATO Institute article, “ICE is arresting 1100% more noncriminals on the street than it did in 2017“ uses data obtained by FOIA from DeportationData.org, to show the following:
Check out the various charts showing arrest types changing over time.
The CATO Institute reports that data from ICE/DHS shows that one in five ICE arrests are Latinos on the street with no criminal past and no removal order. This means, according to the article, that these people have likely been profiled and randomly picked up instead of their arrests being the result of careful research that would prioritize harmful actors.
The report shows that IDs are questioned and many citizens have been detained by ICE. And that after a federal district court told ICE that they were not allowed to profile potential detainees (on July 11th), the street arrests (where profiling occurred) dropped. That federal district court decision was upheld in the 5th Circuit court of Appeals in August.
Here is Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Speech to the Nation from the Oval Office of The Whilte House on January 11, 1989.
“Since this is the last speech that I will give as President, I think it’s fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: ‘’You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”
Yes, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors. It is that lady who gives us our great and special place in the world. For it’s the great life force of each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America’s triumph shall continue unsurpassed into the next century and beyond. Other countries may seek to compete with us; but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on earth comes close.
This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people — our strength — from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation.
While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.
A number of years ago, an American student traveling in Europe took an East German ship across the Baltic Sea. One of the ship’s crew members from East Germany, a man in his sixties, struck up a conversation with the American student. After a while the student asked the man how he had learned such good English. And the man explained that he had once lived in America. He said that for over a year he had worked as a farmer in Oklahoma and California, that he had planted tomatoes and picked ripe melons. It was, the man said, the happiest time of his life.
Well, the student, who had seen the awful conditions behind the Iron Curtain, blurted out the question, “Well, why did you ever leave?” … “I had to,” he said, “the war ended.” The man had been in America as a German prisoner of war.
Now, I don’t tell this story to make the case for former POW’s. Instead, I tell this story just to remind you of the magical, intoxicating power of America. We may sometimes forget it, but others do not. Even a man from a country at war with the United States, while held here as a prisoner, could fall in love with us. Those who become American citizens love this country even more. And that’s why the Statue of Liberty lifts her lamp to welcome them to the golden door.
It is bold men and women, yearning for freedom and opportunity, who leave their homelands and come to a new country to start their lives over. They believe in the American dream. And over and over, they make it come true for themselves, for their children, and for others.
They give more than they receive. They labor and succeed. And often they are entrepreneurs. But their greatest contribution is more than economic, because they understand in a special way how glorious it is to be an American. They renew our pride and gratitude in the United States of America, the greatest, freest nation in the world — the last, best hope of man on Earth.”
Ronald Reagan
This article, USDA wants to end Farm Labor Survey, published by DTN Progressive Farmer, discusses potential changes to how wages are set for temporary, migrant labor with H2A (temporary worker) visas. And, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Labor Survey (FLS) which is critical to the determination of H2A visa holder wages may be discontinued. The OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) and Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) both from the U.S. Department of Labor and used in the determination of temporary worker wages may be altered.
The article states that there are approximately 350,000 H2A (temporary agriculatural workers) in the U.S. working on 22,000 farms for an average hourly wage of $14.83 – $19.80 depending on the state.
The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) is applauding this decision as it will probably bring down the legal wage rates for these workers.
About 3.5% of Mexico’s GDP is from remittances which is money sent back to Mexico from Mexican workers in foreign countries. 90% of Mexican workers who work outside of Mexico and send money back to Mexico are living and working in the U.S. . In 2024, remittances to Mexico were about $65 Billion. This article shows that, during the first half of 2025, remittances to Mexico are down by about $2 Billion.
It’s possible that this lack of income in Mexico will drive some families north to seek economic security.
Watch this 5-minute video about a border celebration in Agua Prieta, Sonora and Douglas, Arizona (August, 2025)
This Fortune article (August 28, 2025) predicts that the combination of tariffs and deporation of key labor sectors will increase food prices in the U.S. this winter.
This article, in Seattle PI, describes work done by volunteers to monitor and track ICE flights – both internal repositioning flights as well as deportation flights.
The work of monitoring and tracking flights which was previously handled by Witness at the Border has been transferred to Human Rights First – and is called ICE Flight Monitor.
The Tucson Sentinel reports that ICE is managing a little-known detention facility at the Phoenix-Mesa Gatway Airport which holds 157 detainees. The AROCC (Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center) is conveniently located to deportation flights. The Deportation Data Project continues to request government data with an on-going Freedom of Information Act request.
This is Austin Kocker and Adam Sawyer’s blog post which is a good way to learn more about immigration detention centers. He reports that immigraton detention centers are reporting a recond number of 61,226 detainees. (This may be undercounted because of local holding facilities of various kinds.)
Immigration Insight 