Trump Administration’s Mass Deportation Operations: Update December 2025

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Human Security believes that the escalation of hyper-militarized mass deportation operations targeting Black and Brown communities coupled with ongoing threats of national guard deployment from the Trump Administration is evidence of normalization of using military force against civilians and a red flag for the genocidal process underway in the U.S. (See our previous Red Flag Alerts and statements for the U.S.). Cities across the U.S. continue to face armed mass deportation operations as the Trump Administration deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers along with agents from other federal agencies to carry out enforcement operations under the guise of protecting public safety (See November Brief). However, these enforcement operations have resulted in human rights violations committed by the federal agents against noncitizens and citizens alike, including unlawful arrest, excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, and denial of due process.In an effort to better document the tactics and abuses of federal agents during these state-sanctioned operations, the Lemkin Institute is providing an analysis of key insights and incidents during the month of December 2025.

Mass Deportation Operations

As of December 2025, the Trump Administration has arrested more than 328,000 people and deported around 327,000. December 14 marked the day with the highest number of people in ICE detention, with a total of 68,400 people detained. The largest group of people in ICE detention were people with no criminal record, despite the Administration’s claims that it is  targeting the “worst of the worst” with its enforcement operations. According to the University of California - Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project, ICE arrest data from January 20 through October 15, 2025 demonstrates that nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records have been arrested by agents, who average around 824 arrests daily. The data also shows that 90% of people arrested were male. The majority of arrests carried out through mid-October involved Mexican nationals (85,000 arrests), followed by Guatemala (31,000) and Honduras (24,000).

Key reports in December also revealed the horrific conditions in ICE detention centers and ICE’s detention and mistreatment of U.S. citizens. The ACLU interviewed 45 people in immigration detention at the military base Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Former detainees reported beatings and sexual abuse from officers. According to their testimony, officers routinely intimidated detainees into  agreeing to self-deport to their home country or to accept deportation to a third country not of their nationality. Detainees lacked access to adequate medical care and often faced violence by officers if they requested medication or care. One immigrant died of liver and kidney failure after being denied medical treatment. Detainees also lack access to legal counsel. The ACLU warns that these conditions are the consequences of the Administration’s rapid expansion of detention centers to include military bases with “minimal safeguards, limited transparency, and virtually no oversight.”

In addition to mistreating immigrants, a congressional investigation revealed that federal agents have “frequently detained and mistreated U.S.citizens.” Citizens testified that "immigration officers had dragged them from cars, detained them for days, fabricated claims of assault, routinely used excessive force and denied medical care.” The investigation corroborated ProPublica’s reporting in October that federal agents had detained more than 170 U.S. citizens.

Louisiana

On December 3, more than 200 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were deployed to New Orleans as part of “Operation Catahoula Crunch.” The objective of this operation was to arrest at least 5,000 people in at least 60 days. The governor of Louisiana and close Trump ally, Jeff Landry, welcomed the operation, claiming that it will target the “worst of the worst, criminal illegal aliens” and will run “until we get them all off the street.” However, New Orleans City Council President JP Morrell noted that "a sweep of New Orleans, or the surrounding parishes" would not "yield anywhere near 5,000 criminals, let alone ones considered 'violent' by any definition.”

Residents spotted masked agents in marked and unmarked vehicles targeting people at gas stations, a Walmart, and a Lowes in Kenner, a majority Hispanic suburb. By December 4th, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that dozens of people had been arrested. As of December 7th, news outlets reported that federal agents arrested 38  people, of whom only 9 had criminal histories more serious than traffic violations. By December 18th, DHS reported 370 arrests.

To keep their staff and customers safe, businesses in majority Hispanic areas either closed or posted signs denying entry to federal agents. The crackdown against immigrants has prompted protests which were met with violence and tear gas from federal agents. New Orleans Representative Troy Carter Sr. responded to the operation, stating "[t]hese are militarized forces who are not trained in our local laws, not trained in community-based de-escalation, and do not know our neighborhoods or our people. That is a recipe for fear, confusion, and dangerous mistakes."

Minnesota

In early December, the Trump Administration launched “Operation Metro Surge,” deploying federal agents to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area to target primarily the Somali immigrant community. This operation came shortly after President Trump intensified his rhetoric against Somali immigrants and congressional representative Ilhan Omar in addition to allegations that Somalis in Minnesota were committing welfare fraud. Trump claimed that Somalis “contributed nothing” to the U.S. and characterized them as “garbage.” Trump also stated, “Hundreds of thousands of Somalians are ripping off our country and ripping apart that once great state.”

By December 8th, ICE reported at least 19 arrests, less than half of which were of Somali descent. At the end of December, DHS claimed that over 670 people had been arrested. News outlets reported several disturbing incidents of federal agents terrorizing communities and employing violence against their both targets and witnesses to their operations.

• December 9: Federal agents targeted an undergraduate student outside a residence hall at Augsburg University without producing a warrant and drew weapons on staff and students witnessing the arrest.

• December 9: Federal agents conducted “random” ID checks and carried out arrests in the majority Somali Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. As witnesses gathered, agents pepper-sprayed the crowd. Armed agents also entered several Somali restaurants and demanded IDs. One U.S. citizen was detained after being stopped on the street by agents. Agents also targeted a senior housing complex. When witnesses blew whistles to alert the residents, agents responded by pepper spraying the crowd.

• December 11: DHS detained a U.S. citizen for observing an ICE raid. A woman approached an officer to ask what was going on. The officer claimed that he ordered the woman to “get back” and arrested her when she did not comply. The woman was quickly pushed to the ground and arrested. She was eventually released after a few hours.

• December 13: ICE agents targeted construction workers working on a roof of a house in Chanhassen. Agents and the workers entered into a stand-off with the workers refusing to come down from their aerial work platform despite subzero temperatures. One man eventually came down and was arrested, while the other remained on the platform until ICE left. Both men were hospitalized due to the cold.

• December 15: Near Lake Street and Pillsbury Avenue, dozens of residents confronted ICE agents holding a pregnant woman handcuffed and face down with their knees pressing into her. Residents were concerned that the woman couldn’t breathe. In an effort to help the woman, some residents threw snowballs and screamed at agents, while others blew whistles to alert neighbors of ICE’s presence. The handcuffed woman was dragged by agents. Agents began using pepper spray against the residents and reportedly tased one witness.

Ohio

On December 16, federal agents were deployed to the Columbus area as part of “Operation Buckeye.” By December 19, ICE confirmed two arrests in Columbus that were part of an ongoing operation. The presence of ICE in Columbus quickly increased over that weekend. Local news reported 35 people booked into Butler County Jail on December 17 and 26 people on December 18 with no charge other than “hold for ICE.” By December 23, ICE released information on 10 arrests, claiming that these were the “worst of the worst;” however, news outlets and local groups have not been able to verify the criminal records of those arrested. According to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA), ICE had detained at least 214 people between December 17-23, including immigrants with legal status and at least two U.S. citizens.

Immigration Restrictions and Policy Changes

December saw an escalation in immigration restrictions and policy changes stemming from President Trump’s Thanksgiving message in the wake of the shooting of two national guard soldiers by an Afghan national with ties to the CIA (See the Lemkin Institute’s November brief and full statement). In his social media post, which was rife with genocidal language, misinformation, and threats, Trump promised to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries” and “denaturalize migrants,” with the goal of “achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations.”

The Trump Administration expanded its June 2025 travel ban. On December 16, President Trump issued a proclamation stating that the Administration is barring the entry of immigrants and non-immigrants from 19 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria. People using travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority are also barred from entry. The Administration announced that it will continue to partially restrict the entry of people from Burundi, Cuba, Togo, and Venezuela in addition to announcing partial restrictions on the entry of people from Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Administration cites considerations regarding “foreign policy, national security, and counterterrorism objectives of the United States” as justifications for these restrictions.

The Department of State also announced that in addition to F, M, and J visas, H-1B and their dependents applying for H-4 visas will now be required to undergo an “online presence review.” This review would require applicants to make their social media accounts public for the government to review to ensure applicants  “do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests.”  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also stated that the "processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols."

USCIS announced that Family Reunification Parole processes for Colombians, Cubans, Ecuadorians, Guatemalans, Haitians, Hondurans, and Salvadorans were terminated as of December 15. USCIS also terminated Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for Ethiopia. Additionally, USCIS put a hold on the processing of applications for the Diversity Immigrant Visa program in the wake of the shootings at Brown University and of an MIT professor that allegedly had been committed by an immigrant who was admitted into the U.S. under the program. In December, USCIS also reportedly received guidance from the Trump Administration that they "supply [the] Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month" in 2026.

Analysis

In December, the Trump Administration’s mass deportation operations continued to escalate in their violence targeting noncitizens and citizens, including bystanders and legal observers of ICE operations. The tactics and incidents from Louisiana, Minnesota, and Ohio are a microcosm of the conduct of federal agents in cities across the country. The continuing lack of transparency of ICE operations and escalating violence and terror tactics employed by federal agents towards communities provide further evidence that federal agents are being utilized as a secret police by the Trump Administration to terrorize, disappear, and collectively punish those deemed undesirable–namely Black and Brown communities.

There continues to be a lack of clarity in who is being detained, for what reason, and where; however, analysis of data from a year of mass deportation operations shows that the majority of people arrested by ICE have no criminal record and are from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Not only do federal agents commit state-sanctioned human rights abuses while carrying out unlawful arrests, but testimony of former detainees has illustrated that horrific state-sanctioned abuses of citizens and noncitizens continue in immigration detention centers like Fort Bliss. In parallel with its mass deportations, the Trump Administration is further restricting legal avenues of immigration, such as TPS, Family Reunification Parole, and the Diversity Visa Program, putting entire communities at risk of getting swept up in ICE’s dragnet.

The Trump Administration and federal agents must be held accountable and investigated for the mass human rights abuses committed during mass deportation operations. States must exercise their right to not collaborate with federal agents carrying out mass deportation operations and take measures to keep their communities safe. This Administration cannot be allowed to continue its collective punishment of noncitizens based on their nationality.

As long as we’re able, the Lemkin Institute will continue to monitor the genocidal process unfolding in the U.S. The Institute wants to stress that while we do our best to document incidents of state-sanctioned human rights violations committed by federal agents, we are only able to access information that is publicly available. The select incidents we are able to highlight are not exhaustive and the extent of these mass deportation operations and human rights violations is most likely underreported by open sources. Documentation of these incidents is key. We encourage those who are able to safely do so to document and report incidents to local grassroots community defense organizations monitoring ICE activity in your area.

Resources

• Ice in My Area Tracker: Report and track ICE activity in your area 

• Immigration Policy Tracking Project: Stay up to date on rapidly changing immigration policies  

• National Immigration Legal Services Directory: Search for immigration services near you

• National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights: Offers information to connect people to legal and community resources and currently lists national, state, and local immigration hotlines

• Immigrant Legal Resource Center : Provides information and currently lists California Rapid Response Networks to report ICE activity

• National Immigration Law Center: Provides information and resources on immigration policy

• American Civil Liberties Union: Stay up to date on changing immigration policies and ongoing litigation

• Immigrant Defense Project: Offers information on community defense and ICE tactics as well as a hotline to connect people with further resources and provide legal advice

• American Immigration Council: Provides breakdowns of immigration law and changing policy

• National Immigrant Justice Center: Provides legal resources and general information on current issues

• Third Country Deportation Watch: Provides information on third country deportations and countries who have entered into agreements with the U.S.

• ICE Flight Monitor: Human Rights First tracks and documents U.S. deportation flights