Trump Administration’s Mass Deportation Operations: Update October 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.). 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 incidents during the month of October 2025.

In October, cities across the U.S. faced hyper-militarized 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. 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. During October, Chicago and Portland in particular were the epicenters of state sanctioned violence and terror.

Illinois

Since September 2025, ICE along with armed federal agents from multiple agencies have been deployed to Chicago to carry out mass deportation operations dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” Federal agents have employed violent tactics against their targets and community protestors, regardless of their citizenship status. Agents are masked, do not identify themselves, and utilize unmarked vehicles. Some ICE agents have said that they swap out the license plates on their vehicles "everyday," which is illegal. There have been reports of violence as agents tackle people, throw them to the ground, and put them in chokeholds. Many reports also indicate that agents are not carrying out operations with warrants. Federal agents have also been reportedly conducting operations in the vicinity of schools, prompting safety concerns from school staff, parents, and local Democratic officials.

Despite an official requirement, not all federal agents are wearing body cams. Agents have also used pepper spray and tear gas against protestors and those that try to interfere with their violent and unlawful arrests. The Broadview ICE processing center has been the site of sustained protest with protestors gathering in front of the facility and even attempting to block vehicles from going in or out.

In response to protests, Trump has threatened to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard.  Illinois and Chicago officials have attempted to rein in and investigate the activities of federal agents. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order prohibiting federal immigration officers from using any city-owned property to stage, coordinate, or conduct their operations. Additionally, Governor JB Pritzker announced that he would establish a commission to document “countless acts of harassment and intimidation and brutality and abuse of power” during mass deportation operations.

October began with the fallout of a massive overnight, military-style raid of an apartment complex in a South Shore neighborhood of Chicago on September 30th. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the building was targeted due to suspicions that it was frequented by Tren de Aragua and its associates. The raid included a Black Hawk helicopter accompanying several military vehicles outside of the complex with agents from ICE, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Witnesses described the raid as a “siege” as agents began grabbing residents with weapons drawn while employing flash bangs. Doors were blown off their hinges and bullets left holes in the walls. All residents were detained (parents and children separated) outside of the complex for hours regardless of their legal status in the U.S. Federal agents began looking for anyone that had an outstanding warrant. Federal agents eventually took 37 undocumented people from Venezuela, Mexico, Nigeria, and Colombia. Four children were also taken into custody.

Notable incidents from Chicago:

• October 1: ICE raided a homeless shelter in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago Federal agents arrived in unmarked vehicles and began chasing people in front of the shelter without identifying themselves and without a warrant. Agents detained five people.

• October 21: A landscaper was taken by ICE agents. Agents surrounded the man, ripped off his leaf blower, and threw him to the ground before putting him in an unmarked vehicle.

• October 22: Federal agents detained nine people, including two city employees who are U.S. citizens, during a raid in Little Village. Six U.S. citizens were arrested for interfering with operations and three undocumented people were detained. DHS claims that the two city employees were interfering with operations by following agents and attempting to ram a vehicle. These claims have since been disputed and the city employees have been released. Witnesses described the masked agents operating in Little Village and Cicero as "reckless" and that they “endangered innocent lives with chemical agents, violent aggressions and high-speed chases through our neighborhoods that ended in yet another car wreck in our streets.”

• October 23: Federal agents tear gassed and pepper sprayed protestors at Little Village Discount Mall and detained five people, including two high school students.

• October 25: Federal agents carried out an operation in Old Irving Park, interrupting a children’s Halloween parade and deploying tear gas without warning on residents as they tried to intervene. Agents arrested several people, including U.S. citizens, for allegedly assaulting and impeding a federal officer.

• October 31: At least three people were detained by federal agents in Albany Park. Two of the three are U.S. citizens. Witnesses saw people being thrown into unmarked vehicles. In a statement, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed that Border Patrol agents arrested five undocumented people  who came to the U.S. from Guatemala, India, Ecuador, and Mexico.

Oregon

Similar tactics have been employed by ICE and other federal agencies against their targets and protestors in Oregon. Like in Chicago, protestors in Portland have been gathering outside the city’s ICE facility, prompting Trump to threaten to deploy 200 federalized members of the Oregon National Guard. Trump continues to push the narrative that Portland is “war ravaged” and has even authorized “full force, if necessary,” intentionally spreading misinformation about the nature and scale of Portland’s protests. A federal judge has issued an order barring any National Guard members from being sent to Oregon; however, this order may be at risk from subsequent rulings from the U.S. Court of Appeals, allowing Trump to move forward in his plans.

Oregon Public Broadcasting documented a significant ramping up of mass deportation operations in Portland in mid-October, specifically in the well-known immigrant communities in Gresham, Hillsboro, Cornelius, Woodburn, and Beaverton. Federal agents were spotted outside of schools in Woodburn and Wilsonville. The exact numbers of those detained from this escalation are unclear and attorneys expressed concern that their clients are being transported out of state before they have a chance to contact their legal counsel.

Notable incidents in Oregon:

• October 2: A U.S. citizen was targeted by federal agents, taken outside of his workplace in Milwaukie, Oregon, and held at the Portland ICE facility for several hours. Federal agents claimed that the person “overstayed his visa” and threatened that he was “going to get the dog” if he did not cooperate. Even after the person was released, ICE gave no explanation for his unlawful detention.

• October 11: ICE arrested five workers at a construction site in Gresham despite only having a warrant for one of the men. One man was eventually released after proving that he was a citizen.

• October 15: Federal agents boxed in a truck and forced the driver to stop on the Tualatin Valley Highway. Without identifying themselves or presenting a warrant, ICE officers smashed the window of the truck, dragged out the driver, and threw him into an unmarked SUV. That same day, federal agents broke into a woman’s home in Portland with weapons drawn and without a warrant. None of the people they were looking for were present in the residence. Agents ended up detaining the woman’s son and partner, claiming that they were in the country illegally.

• October 21: Two men with legal work permits and who are in the process of becoming citizens were taken by ICE.

• October 30: Federal agents detained 30 people in Woodburn.

Other Incidents

Reports indicate that federal agents continue to use masks, unmarked vehicles, excessive force, and arbitrary arrest in other states across the U.S., including California, New York, New Jersey, Idaho, Connecticut, Indiana, and Texas.

The 19th, released a report indicating that ICE has repeatedly violated a not-yet-recinded, Biden-era policy to not arrest or detain pregnant, postpartum, or nursing people except  under extreme circumstances. People have reported miscarriage after being detained by ICE. Since Congress has let lapse the requirement for ICE to periodically report the number of pregnant, postpartum, or nursing detainees and the justification for their detention, it has become near impossible to know the exact number of these people in ICE custody and whether their detention is warranted per the policy. It is also unclear if pregnant, postpartum, and nursing detainees are receiving adequate care for their specialized medical and nutritional needs. DHS has not responded to requests from Democratic senators and other organizations for more information.

Federal agents shot and injured an undocumented person in Los Angeles, California during what DHS claims was a “targeted traffic enforcement stop.” Reports state that agents attempted to box in the person’s’s vehicle before shooting. DHS released a statement that the shots hit the person’s elbow and that these were “defensive shots” from agents who feared for their safety. In Virginia, a Honduran man died while attempting to flee ICE agents by running into a busy highway. This is the third incident where people have died attempting to flee ICE raids.

At the end of the month, the Halloween holiday came with further concerning behavior from federal agents. Witnesses in Los Angeles, California reported federal agents in unmarked vehicles wearing Halloween masks of horror characters Chucky and Momo. This raised additional concerns that this would make already unidentifiable masked agents even less recognizable, given the holiday. When asked, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin simply responded “Happy Halloween,” refusing to address the concern. That same day, 50 armed federal agents raided a warehouse in Woodbridge, New Jersey and detained around 46 people, despite many of them having valid work permits and pending immigration cases.

Other notable incidents:

• October 14:  Los Angeles County, California declared a state of emergency due to Trump’s immigration crackdown.

• October 15: ICE raided a carwash in Hamden, Connecticut and took eight people. Witnesses reported masked agents with tactical gear and that agents tackled and slammed people to the ground before putting them in unmarked vehicles.

• October 17: 12 federal agents arrested 10 people outside of the Row Hotel in New York City, a known shelter for migrant families. Agents swarmed the sidewalk outside of the hotel around 4pm when families usually come home for the day. Some of those taken by ICE report that they were temporarily held and questioned in a nearby parking garage before being released. Agents asked about their country of origin, commenting that they were “looking for Venezuelans.” Witnesses state that ICE also seized a 12-year-old boy waiting for his mom to come home and shoved him into a car temporarily.

• October 19: ICE and the FBI arrested 105 people in southwest Idaho claiming that they were breaking up an illegal gambling operation in Wilder. Witnesses report that they saw people being hit with rubber bullets.

• October 21: ICE raided Manhattan’s Chinatown in New York City. Masked agents detained several people and military vehicles were spotted in the area. Protestors gathered as ICE carried out the raid. It has been reported that ICE arrested nine undocumented people and four U.S. citizens. The four U.S. citizens were held without charge for nearly 24 hours, prompting family members to file missing persons reports.

• October 23: Federal agents forced their way into a person’s’s home in Gary, Indiana, beating people and employing chokeholds before detaining the entire mixed-status family despite the children being U.S. citizens and the parents not having a criminal background.

• October 29: Federal agents in Houston, Texas beat and choked a 16-year-old U.S. citizen and his father after they pulled over in unmarked vehicles and ambushed the two. The father was immediately deported to Mexico.

The tactics of federal agents being reported in cities across the U.S. have put communities in danger and have resulted in state-sanctioned human rights violations committed against both noncitizens and citizens. Reports and eyewitnesses indicate that already vulnerable populations, such as pregnant, postpartum, and nursing people and children, are getting swept up in violent and hyper-militarized operations.

Trump’s threats to send in the National Guard to support mass deportation operations only serve to further militarize these operations, escalate the potential for violence against civilians, and endanger communities.

The lack of consistent and visible identification of federal agents carrying out operations and the lack of clarity in who is being detained, for what reason, and where, raises concerns that federal agents are being utilized as a secret police to disappear people the Trump Administration deems undesirable.

Congress and human rights organizations must pursue investigations into the conduct of federal agents, the lawfulness of arrests and detentions, and the conditions of ICE detention centers and other facilities. The federal government and its agents must not be allowed to act with impunity.

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