The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown intensified across Washington in the late summer and early fall, new data indicates.

Between July 29 and October 15, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than 950 people in Washington. The pace of arrests during those two-and-a-half months far surpasses increases earlier in the year. From Inauguration Day in January to the end of July, arrests totaled just over 1,000.

And as detainments have increased, the share of those with criminal records has dropped. This despite federal authorities claiming that they’re targeting immigrants with violent criminal histories.

Just over 31% of those arrested in Washington between the end of July and mid-October had criminal convictions. Roughly another 17% had pending criminal charges. That’s compared to about 40% and 18%, respectively, in the rest of the year.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat, this month cited the case of a Clark County man who was mauled by a dog during his arrest by ICE as an example of how federal immigration authorities are “terrorizing everyone,” whether they have a criminal record or not.

“This should shock the conscience of every one of us,” she said in a statement. “I do not want to live in an America where federal agents can sic attack dogs on peaceful residents with impunity and face no consequences.”

But even having a criminal history still doesn’t justify allegedly abusing people’s rights, said Vanessa Torres Hernandez, the integrated policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington chapter.

President Donald Trump’s campaign has more than doubled deportation arrests compared to last year under President Joe Biden. Nearly 2,000 people in Washington have been arrested since Trump retook office, compared to about 800 over the same period last year. In September alone, federal immigration authorities arrested over 350 in Washington.

Brenda Rodriguez López, executive director of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, said the data “affirms what our communities have experienced for months.”

“This represents nearly 2,000 families who have had a loved one taken away from them; 2,000 communities who have suddenly lost a neighbor, a coworker, a friend; 2,000 people who have had to face brutal conditions while in detention and the possibility of permanent separation due to deportation,” she said in a statement.

The spike in arrests in Washington mirrors national trends. The Trump administration has ramped up its immigration enforcement efforts in major American cities, but has yet to specifically target Seattle, despite officials frequently mentioning Washington’s biggest city as on their radar.

The arrest figures come from the Deportation Data Project out of the University of California, Berkeley, where researchers received the information via Freedom of Information Act requests.

It provides a rare statistical look into the Trump administration’s deportation program here and across the nation.

But it’s not comprehensive. For one, it only includes ICE administrative arrests, excluding Customs and Border Protection. And, in some cases, no state is listed for individual arrest records. So the arrest figures for Washington are likely an undercount. They also don’t account for the rest of October and November.

While previous datasets have included more complete information on each arrestee’s country of origin, the latest stats are lacking on that front.

The jump in enforcement followed Congress earmarking $170 billion to carry out Trump’s immigration agenda in the Republican-backed “big, beautiful bill” in July. Federal officials are now using some of the money to buy a half-dozen Boeing planes for deportation flights, instead of relying on chartered jets, according to The Washington Post.

Local advocacy group La Resistencia has seen the increase in arrests as it monitors deportation flights in and out of Boeing Field in Seattle, to either be deported, transferred or held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. This month, the organization is seeing three or four flights per week, compared to one a week last year, said Josefina Mora-Cheung, organizing director.

“The movement of people and the targeting of people is at an unprecedented level that La Resistencia has not seen since we were founded 11 years ago,” Mora-Cheung said.

The increased arrests have stirred worries of overcrowding at the Tacoma detention center. As of Nov. 28, the 1,575-bed facility was holding just over 1,300 people, according to Detention Reports.

In a letter Tuesday, many of the Democrats in Washington’s congressional delegation urged the acting ICE director to release those held at the detention center who don’t pose a public safety threat due to concerns over deteriorating conditions from crowding there.

The state fought for years in court with the facility’s operator, The GEO Group, to inspect it. Despite a recent appeals court ruling in the state’s favor, inspectors still haven’t been able to get in, according to the state Department of Health.

The detention center has a history of allegations of mistreatment, abuse and neglect of detainees. A green card holder from the Philippines, Greggy Sorio, had to have a toe amputated due to medical issues he experienced while being held there.

The question of how to further protect immigrants in Washington is expected to be a major topic of discussion when the Legislature meets starting next month for a 60-day legislative session.

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News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/18/washington-state-immigration-arrests-surge-many-no-criminal-records/