Houston — US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said their agents had made around 2,000 arrests in the last several days.
The enforcement comes following President Donald Trump’s new immigration policies. ICE officials can make arrests at schools, hospitals, and churches.
Dozens of arrests have been reported around Texas. A spokeswoman for ICE’s Dallas Field Office told KHOU 11 News sister station WFAA that 84 people were arrested in the Dallas-Forth Work region on Sunday.
ICE’s Houston Field Office declined to provide detailed information about current enforcement operations in the area, simply stating that officers are conducting “routine targeted immigration enforcement.”
FIEL Houston, an immigrant-led civil rights organization, said it received more than 150 calls from worried individuals reporting ICE agents in their communities.
“There’s definitely a palpable sense of paranoia or fear in the community,” FIEL Houston executive director Cesar Espinosa stated. “There’s a lot of reports almost every hour of people saying you know I think I saw ICE here, or there are these undercover vans here, or stuff like that.”
Espinosa stated that he and his staff investigated all of the claims and, for the time being, believe the majority of them are unrelated to ICE operations.
Out of the 150 complaints we received over the weekend, only two or three were actual ICE, and they weren’t showing up in major raids or anything. “They were showing up in targeted operations, apprehending one or two people at a time,” Espinosa explained. “It is still business as usual. We have not noticed a significant increase in the number of mass raids. That is not to say they will not happen. That does not imply we’re safe.”
According to Espinosa, FIEL Houston is preparing the local immigrant community for potential detention by ICE, which includes both undocumented and documented immigrants.
“We’re currently preparing, and will be released in the next few days, a tool kit for people to know what they need to get ready for, and what they need to prepare for if they end up in immigration custody,” Espinosa said. “For the first time ever in our history, we’re recommending that U.S. citizens get their paperwork in order and try to get a passport card so they can carry it around with them so they can prove citizenship.”
Trump and his supporters have stated that the immigration rules are intended to protect the public and boost security. This involves safeguarding the United States-Mexico border.
“In less than a few days, President Trump has immediately made an impact,” Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, stated.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott stated Monday that he has directed the Texas Military Department to send more than 400 troops from the Texas Tactical Border Force to the Rio Grande Valley to work with the US Border Patrol.
“I deployed the Texas Tactical Border Force, which consists of hundreds of troops, to work with US Border Patrol agents to prevent illegal aliens from entering our nation and enforce immigration laws. For the past four years, Texas has stood firm against the Biden administration’s border crisis and refusal to protect American citizens. Finally, we have a federal government working to resolve the situation. “I thank President Donald Trump for his decisive leadership on the southern border, and I look forward to working with him and his administration to secure the border and make America safe again,” Governor Abbott stated in a news release.
While he acknowledged that border security must be taken seriously, Democratic Congressman and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner stated that wholesale deportation of innocent people is not the solution.
“There’s bipartisan support for securing the border, bipartisan support for deporting people who are here illegally who have committed serious crimes,” Turner informed us. “I think where you reach is objection is when you’re deporting people who are law-abiding citizens.”
Turner also expressed concern about ICE agents conducting arrests in schools, hospitals, and churches. He stated that he understood the anxieties of immigrant groups in the Houston region.
“They are legitimately concerned about their parents, grandparents, and relatives who have lived in this nation for 20 to 30 years. There are both proper and bad ways to do things. Now, if you want to see individuals shackled, loaded onto military jets, and flown away, you can. But, in the end, I believe the most important question is: what is best for the American people? Turner stated.
KHOU 11 News contacted local law enforcement agencies Monday to determine if they are supporting ICE with immigration enforcement. Both the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Houston Police Department denied any involvement in such activities.
