Workplace and airport operations lead ICE to record July migrant arrests

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reached record levels for its migration operations in July. In the first 12 days of the month, the agency averaged over 1,400 arrests daily, marking a 40% increase compared to the previous year. This surge in enforcement actions is occurring alongside the deaths of three migrants during these operations.

Two migrants died from gunshot wounds inflicted by agents: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 7 in Houston, Texas, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero on July 13 in Maine. A third victim, a 28-year-old Mexican man not publicly identified, died on July 14 after being run over by a truck while fleeing agents in St. Augustine, Florida. These incidents highlight the escalating risks faced by migrants during ICE operations.

ICE's enforcement activities have expanded across multiple states, encompassing workplace raids and airport operations, often in coordination with other federal agencies. Reports indicate ICE has begun conducting arrests at airports, with agents reportedly in plain clothes. In South Florida, concerns have grown following news that the agency plans to contract for new detention facilities in Seattle, Philadelphia, Miami, and Denver, collectively capable of holding 5,500 detainees.

Data analyzed by TRAC Immigration shows that as of July 11, a total of 65,765 individuals were detained, with 89% arrested by ICE and 11% by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). A study by the Immigration Research Center suggests that for every 1,000 immigrant men arrested, there is a 2.5% decrease in employment among immigrant men in the at-risk group. The study concludes that the "mass deportation program" by the Trump administration is harming American workers, both immigrants and native-born.

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Every day it becomes more evident that the mass deportation program being carried out by the Trump administration is harming American workers, both immigrants and those born in the United States