Former ICE chief explains how agency decides which cities to target

Whereas some Democrats have accused the Trump administration of politically concentrating on Democratic cities for enforcement, former appearing director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Sandweg shared insights on how the company selects the following metropolis for operations.

Sandweg, who served as appearing ICE director beneath President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2014, informed Fox Information Digital throughout an interview that the existence of an unlawful alien shelter coverage performs an essential function in figuring out which cities are focused. Nevertheless, Sandweg stated this isn’t for purely political causes.

“The largest driver can be the immigrant inhabitants, how massive the inhabitants is in that specific neighborhood. And the second factor is, is there such a factor as a sanctuary coverage that might improve the variety of targets, which means those who ICE desires to take into custody who will not be at the moment in a jail or jail,” he defined. “These are the standard elements that ICE would depend on when making choices about the place main surges ought to happen.”

In 2025, the Trump administration despatched ICE brokers to cities corresponding to Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago. These had been all massive cities with vital immigrant populations, and all had sanctuary insurance policies. Sandweg stated he expects this type of repression “is simply starting.”

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An ICE agent is seen standing in entrance of a home in a residential space. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures)

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“You need to go the place the criminals are… and so you are going to have a look at knowledge on the place we will get the most important bang for our buck,” he defined, including: “Historically that is going to be in bigger city cities, simply because they’ve a better inhabitants density, and that is the place you are extra more likely to discover your legal populations.”

In relation to the function of shelter cities in ICE’s concentrating on course of, Sandweg stated that “shelter insurance policies will not be all created equal.”

“ICE is de facto good at getting folks into jails and prisons. There is not an individual in a jail or jail in the USA at present that ICE would not get a have a look at,” he defined. “Whereas we pay quite a lot of consideration to these kind of very public confrontations between protesters and DHS brokers in Minneapolis and different locations, there’s a lot taking place behind the scenes that the general public would not perceive, together with the rounding up of individuals in jails and prisons, federal, state, native, throughout the nation.”

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Residents encompass federal brokers and Border Patrol brokers planning their escape after an immigrant assault on Atlantic Blvd. in Bell, California, June 19, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Instances through Getty Pictures)

Whereas he stated some jurisdictions are keen to cooperate with ICE in arresting unlawful aliens with critical legal costs, corresponding to violent crimes, there are some which are unwilling to take action.

Sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to adjust to ICE requests to detain unlawful aliens, so-called “detainers,” pose their very own operational problem, Sandweg stated. This, in flip, may probably result in the company deciding to ship extra officers and sources to the realm.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers evaluation lists of names and their listening to instances and places on the Federal Plaza courthouse earlier than making arrests on June 27, 2025, in New York. (Picture by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP through Getty Pictures)

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“There are jurisdictions … which have very restrictive shelter insurance policies, the place you are left scratching your head and saying, these are dangerous guys, why do not they offer us custody of this particular person in jail?” he stated. “You will see that extra targets in these jurisdictions as a result of ICE would usually take custody of them in jail.”