Marc Prokosch, Senior Attorney, Prokosch Law LLC, speaks as Zena Stenvik, Superintendent, Columbia Heights Public Schools, and Mary Granlund, Chair of the School Board, stand beside him during a press conference in Roseville, Minnesota, on January 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

One of two documented immigrants with prior convictions detained by U.S. Immigrations and Customs (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, walks handcuffed as an agent holds his arm, at a Home Depot parking lot in Tucson, Arizona, U.S., January 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Top Trump administration officials, including “border czar” Tom Homan and the acting deputy attorney general, visited Chicago on Sunday (January 27, 2025) to witness the start of ramped-up immigration enforcement in the nation’s third-largest city as federal agencies touted arrests around the country.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it made 956 arrests nationwide on Sunday and 286 on Saturday. While some of the operations may not have been unusual, ICE averaged 311 daily arrests in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

Federal law enforcement on immigration crackdown

Few details of the operation were immediately made public, including the number of arrests. But the sheer number of federal agencies involved showed President Donald Trump’s willingness to use federal law enforcement beyond the Department of Homeland Security to carry out his long-promised mass deportations.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said he observed immigration agents from the DHS along with agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He didn’t offer details on the operation, which came days after DHS expanded immigration authority to agencies in the Department of Justice, including the DEA and ATF.

Operation targets members of Venezuelan gang in Colorado

The DEA posted pictures Sunday on social media of an operation at a location in the Denver area, where roughly 50 people were taken into custody.

Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge for the DEA Rocky Mountain field division, said the Colorado operation targeted drug trafficking by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang. He said about 100 agents and officers, including from the DEA, ICE, ATF and Homeland Security Investigations, carried out a federal search warrant for drug trafficking around 5 am Sunday at a location where Tren de Aragua members were having a party.

ICE detained nearly 50 people and transported them on a bus to one of its processing centers in nearby Aurora, Pullen said. As of Sunday afternoon, about 40 people remained in ICE custody, he said.

“They ran all of the information while they were on scene and they determined, ICE determined, that they were here illegally or they had some other violation in the immigration system, and they detained and arrested them,” Pullen said.

Immigrant rights groups

Immigrant rights groups have tried to prepare for the aggressive crackdown with campaigns for immigrants to know their rights in case of an arrest. City officials have done the same, publishing similar information at public bus and train stations.

On Friday, Chicago Public Schools officials mistakenly believed ICE agents had come to a city elementary school and put out statements to that effect before learning the agents were from the Secret Service. Word of immigration agents at a school — which have long been off limits to immigration agents until Trump ended the policy last week — drew swift criticism from community groups and Gov. JB Pritzker.

The Democratic governor, a frequent Trump critic, questioned the aggressive approach of the operations and the chilling effect for others, particularly for law-abiding immigrants who have been in the country for years.

Washington DC:

US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed immigration hardliner and close aide, Stephen Miller, as his White House deputy chief of staff for policy. Confirming Millar’s appointment, Vice President-elect JD Vance on Monday, congratulated the incoming deputy chief of staff for policy on X, calling him “another fantastic pick by the president.”

Mr Miller was part of the president-elect’s first administration and served as his senior adviser and director of speech-writing at the White House. He was also a central figure behind several of Mr Trump’s policies on immigration, including the Muslim travel ban and the 2018 family separation policy.

Miller’s Stance On H-1B Visas

Known for his extremist rhetoric, Mr Miller was a frequent presence during the president-elect’s 2024 campaign, often seen speaking at Mr Trump’s rallies. Addressing Mr Trump’s infamous Madison Square Garden rally in New York which saw an attendance of nearly 19,500 Americans, Mr Miller told the crowd that “America is for Americans and Americans only” and promised to “restore America to the true Americans”.

Last year during an interview with the New York Times, Mr Miller asserted that if Mt Trump was re-elected, his administration would bring policies to restrict legal and illegal immigration. He also talked about plans to detain undocumented immigrants in camps while they await expulsion.

During Trump’s first administration, Miller helped in drafting the Cruz-Sessions bill that prohibited international students with a master’s or bachelor’s degree from working in H-1B status in the US for at least 10 years. 

Now in his new role in Trump 2.0, Mr Miller is expected to continue his advocacy for restrictive immigration policies, including limits on H-1B visas. He argues that the H-1B program can lead to American worker displacement and wage suppression.

Trump Administration And Immigration 

Trump administration’s stance on immigration has often been at odds with economic consensus, which shows that skilled immigrants and international students benefit the US economy. As president, Mr Trump did not enact any measures to increase access to H-1B visas, and his second term will likely be similar. Policies introduced during his presidency also saw a rise in visa denial rates and a narrowing of the definition of “speciality occupation,” reducing the positions eligible for H-1B workers.

In 2020, before Mr Trump left office, his administration published a restrictive H-1B rule, which was blocked by a court for violating the Administrative Procedure Act. As per a report by Forbes, the rule included numerous provisions to prevent companies from employing foreign-born scientists and engineers, such as changing who and what positions could qualify for an H-1B speciality occupation.

Taking his previous administration’s agenda forward, Mr Trump has also appointed former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan as his administration’s “Border Czar.” In a post on his Truth Social platform, the President-elect said that Homan would oversee the border security of the US along with maritime and aviation security. He also stated that Mr Homan would oversee deportation policies.

Together, Miller and Homan are anticipated to work closely in implementing the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration measures.

The Forbes report said that if President Joe Biden’s administration does not finalize the H-1B “modernizing” rule before he leaves the Oval Office, a new Trump administration could issue the H-1B rule with its priorities rather than those of the Biden team. 

As per the report, the new rule would likely be far more restrictive than the current H-1B regulation or what US Citizenship and Immigration Services proposed in October 2023.