ICE has in the past arrested people primarily through transfers from local law enforcement. This is why 287(g) agreements are so important, and explains why in past years the great majority of deportations involve persons with a criminal record – they are found in jail. As of November 2025, ICE has signed 1,155 agreements, compared to less than 200 before Trump 2.  Workplace raids are highly publicized but yield relatively tiny numbers of deportations. Transfers from Customs and Border Control have also been a source of ICE deportations.

With this background, it is easy to see why ICE began to show up at asylum hearings. The large majority of persons applying for asylum arrived illegally in the U.S. – “without inspection.” They are illegally in the U.S. There is no red line barring ICE from arresting and deporting asylum applicants. In DHS v. Thuraissigiam (2020), the Court severely restricted judicial review of expedited removal proceedings.  There are yet to be any decisions at a higher-level federal court that sets some constraints on courthouse arrests.

ICE agents began to show up to arrest people before or after immigration hearings in May 2025. These are persons in the U.S. for under two years and thereby subjectable to expedited removal. This tactic spread nationwide. They have been using expedited removal practices.  About 70% of the courthouse arrests appear to be people who came into the country “without  inspection” .i.e. not overstays.  Of the total ICE removals through October, which is estimated at about 525,000, 20% are estimated as having pended pending asylum cases. One can expect that courthouse arrests will expand because it is so easy to find some on to arrest.

Tim Rohn wrote for Politico, What I Saw at the Epicenter of Trump’s War on ‘Illegals’. Here is an excerpt: “What I learned from reporting both in those hallways and outside them is that whatever direct connection between a migrant’s behavior and a decision to arrest them might once have existed, that connection is now broken. In effect, it seems to me, the United States government has decided mercy is no longer part of the plan, that there is no longer any distinction between “applying for asylum” and “entering illegally.” No new law was needed to make this shift, or for the government to set a goal to increase the numbers of deportations to thousands per day. Millions of people who thought they were following the law are learning the hard way that they are “illegal” and fair game for deportation.”

The application for asylum

A description of how ICE works to find, arrest and deport people.