Newly revealed emails from within the Department of Homeland Security released on Monday show that senior leaders knew agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol significantly increased their use of force under President Donald Trump and his push against immigration.
A Freedom of Information Act request by the group American Oversight and reported by Politico uncovered reports sent to Caleb Vitello, who was head of ICE enforcement operations in March of last year. Those reports showed that there were 67 incidents involving the use of force in Trump’s first two months in office. Those incidents represent a more than 290% increase in use of force from the 17 such incidents in all of 2024, under former President Joe Biden.
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But the Trump administration has continued to spin concerns about ICE agents abusing migrants, citizens, and children. There are documented cases of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other methods that put the public at danger—at the same time the administration is pouring millions into recruitment and deploying poorly trained officers to the field.
“Our ICE agents are following the law and are running their operations according to training,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters in January.
The violence comes in tandem with the federal government being weaponized under Trump to meet unrealistic goals for deportation of migrants. During the 2024 presidential campaign and throughout his time as a political figure, Trump has exaggerated the amount of crime connected to immigrants, particularly among Latino and Black immigrants. Most of the migrants targeted for deportation are not violent criminals but many are facing ICE agents deploying violence against them.
This mindset played a key role in the deaths of Minnesota residents Alex Pretti and Renee Good, American citizens who were killed in the street by agents carrying out Trump’s anti-immigrant actions.
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As the violence has erupted, congressional Democrats have begun pushing for limits on ICE and other agencies—leading to the recent shutdown of Homeland Security funding. Public opinion polls have seen immigration shift from being one of Trump’s few remaining areas of public support to another area where a majority of the public is opposed to him.
The movement to abolish ICE entirely is gathering grassroots momentum and is another sign of a gathering political storm that threatens to shift power away from Republicans.
