ICE arrests of AAPI Californians surge driven by explosive rise in non-criminal detentions

SCREEN CAPTURE / USC

Arrests of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California by federal agents  increased over 1,000% in the first year of the Donald Trump regime, according to an analysis out of the University of Southern California.

A newly released analysis from the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI) confirms what grassroots advocates have reported on the ground: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in California have escalated at alarming rates.

“We are seeing these arrests instill fear among community members and causing families to scramble and panic to find their loved ones,” said Timmy Lu, the director of AAPIs for Civic Empowerment Education Fund, at a Wednesday afternoon briefing.

According to data compiled by ERI, ICE arrests of AAPI individuals in California surged by 1,109%, far outpacing the 386% increase seen in overall statewide arrests. This massive jump expanded the AAPI share of total ICE arrests in California from 4% up to 11%, or about 3,000 individuals.

The sharpest increase stems directly from targeted detentions of individuals with no criminal history.

ICE arrests of AAPI community members without a criminal record surged by over 1,000%, pointing directly to widespread street arrests, aggressive daily enforcement quotas, and surprise detentions during routine administrative check-ins.

The spikes span across East and South Asian as well as Pacific Islander populations— with the highest arrest figures among immigrants from India, China, Vietnam, Armenia, and Laos — alongside notable increases among women and minors.

Southeast Asian communities remain disproportionately impacted due to the lingering "school-to-prison-to-deportation" pipeline, with refugees who previously served decades-old sentences being re-targeted during their regular annual immigration check-ins.

The AAPI communities feeling the impact of the rise in ICE arrests were from India, China, Vietnam, Armenia and Laos.

The analysis was based on individual arrest records between January 2024 and March 2026 reported by ICE and interpreted through UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project. The data does not include detentions by the Border Patrol and other federal agencies.

Between January 2025 and mid-October 2025, 7,243 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) were detained by ICE, 2,776 AAPI individuals were deported, and 10 AAPI detainees have died in ICE custody since October 2025.

Community advocates emphasize that these numbers reflect a severe shift toward indiscriminate enforcement, leaving working-class AAPI families and immigrant communities in constant fear of routine daily activities being upended by federal operations.

“We’re seeing pickups happening in front of their homes, on the way to work, at work, at their check-ins in the courthouse,” said CaseyAnn Carbonell, the immigration and deportation defense campaign director with Stockton-based nonprofit, Empowering Marginalized Asian Communities.

These are not the "worst of the worst" that Trump said his harsh policies would target when he ordered federal agecies to implement his plan to deport gang members, human traffickers and criminals.

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Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao in the crosshairs of Navy families

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao is in the hot seat.

As the Trump regime deploys the US military as if they were chess pieces instead of human beings, the man facing the most heat is an Asian American, a retired US Navy Captain, since Secretary of Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth couldn't find an admiral he could trust to take the high-profile position of the Secretary of the Navy.

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao's chief quality is his loyalty to Donald Trump. A former Republican candidate for the US Senate, Cao finds himself in the hot seat for a growing military crisis.

At a high-stakes, emotional town hall meeting August 6 at the Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Cao faced down over 200 angry, tearful spouses and parents of sailors deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

The ship has been pushed to historic limits in the Middle East, reaching nearly 260 days deployed and shattering records with over 200 consecutive days at sea without a single port call for R&R.

Amid grim reports of severe food shortages, compromised water quality, and physical exhaustion, a mental health catastrophe has taken hold—culminating in reports of at least six sailors attempting to throw themselves overboard into the sea, only to be physically wrestled back to safety by their crewmates.

Instead of reassurance, Cao’s appearance laid bare deep systemic strain and a profound crisis of confidence between military families and top brass.

Raw voices from the Town Hall

For hours, family members confronted Cao directly, venting months of frustration, fear, and heartbreak over what their loved ones are enduring at sea.

One spouse pointed directly at the leadership table, telling Cao, "You have broken trust between us and the leadership."

A grieving parent recounted her daughter's terrifying messages from the ship, sharing that her daughter felt so trapped she "believed she would die aboard the ship" and would never see home again.

Another military wife brought attendees to tears when reading a text message from her husband, a 13-year Navy veteran now placed on medical hold after a suicide attempt, who wrote that he "hopes he doesn't wake up tomorrow."

The roughly 5,000 service members aboard also have dealt with food and water shortages and little time off, with the typical port calls every 30 to 45 days falling by the wayside, according to family members and sailors.

“Nothing to really look forward to at this point,” one sailor told Stars and Stripes, noting that morale is currently so low that service members on the vessel are willing to skip any upcoming stops to return home as soon as possible.

“My son is currently on that ship and listening to him say that he and his shipmates constantly think about jumping off the ship just for relief is so hard to listen to,” one parent told Stars and Stripes in July.

One sailor reportedly jumped off the ship but was recovered and is receiving medical care. The Navy would not classify the incident a suicide attempt. However, Military officials addressed the event as a mental health crisis, coming amid heightened scrutiny over crew exhaustion during the ship's extended deployment of over 250 days. 

In fact, the Navy and Hegseth said all the negative reports coming from the families are false. Hegseth defended the military's handling, calling descriptions of the conditions "completely misrepresented" by media, including reports from the Military Times, considered a reliable  middle of the road outlet.

The USS Abraham Lincoln

Cao attempted to diffuse the anger by announcing that a carrier strike group is being prepared to deploy to the region to relieve the Lincoln.

A few days after that disastrous meeting in San Diego, media reports that the USS George Washington is already streaming to the Middle East from its base in Japan. If those reports are true, the potential hot spot in the West Philippine Sea is more vulnerable for more invasions by China's growing navy and coast guard.

It is not just the USS Abraham Lincoln being affected by the long deployment. An aircraft carrier on a mission is accompanied by a Carrier Strike Group consisting of guided-missile cruisers, destroyers and submarines. The crews of these vessels are also under the same stress as the carrier's crew. All toll, about 7,000 to 7,500 sailors and marines need to be relieved.

Members of Congress, including the representatives of the areas around San Diego, expressed frustration that they were not informed about the meeting between Cao and the carrier families and sent a joint letter asking for more information about the situation and what steps are being taken that other ships will not suffer the same conditions.

US Representatives Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Ranking Member of the Military and Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee, and Robert Garcia (CA-42), Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, are demanding answers from the Department of Defense (DOD) about conditions on the USS Lincoln.

“Secretary Hegseth has claimed the rumors of overboard attempts and food rationing are overblown. If conditions are what he says they are and he has nothing to hide, then we will see if the information matches his claims. Our servicemembers are being asked to be away from family for months on end with inadequate conditions. That is unacceptable,” said Ranking Member Subramanyam.

"Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln are going without food, dealing with contaminated water, and attempting suicide after hundreds of days at sea due to President Trump’s incompetent and disastrous war with Iran. Secretary Hegseth must answer for and improve these unacceptable conditions immediately," said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.

In response to Hegseth's and Trump's defensive statements, the wife of one of the crew members told media outlets:

It's infuriating. I mean, we heard what Hegseth said yesterday, what the president is saying today. It's infuriating, saying, essentially, that families are lying and service members are lying, even though the proof is right here on my phone. It is not fabricated. Nobody is lying. Everybody is — it's infuriating that they're not taking accountability, and not having any sort of sympathy for our service members that they claim to scream and shout that they support, when it's politically, you know, sound for them to use "support our troops, support our troops," until our troops need support, and now suddenly everyone's lying, and it's a fabrication and a misrepresentation? It's infuriating.

Cao is a refugee

Acting Navy Secretary Cao was born in Ho Chi Minh City and fled Vietnam with his family when the US left South Vietnam. The 4-year old Cao arrived in the US  with his refugee family in 1975 and settled in VIrginia.

Cao’s political ascent to top civilian leadership in the Navy was swift. After running as an outspoken, conservative candidate alignment with Trump's "America First" agenda, Cao was named Acting Navy Secretary by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth following the abrupt firing of former Secretary John Phelan.

Hegseth felt Phelan was moving too slowly to implement President Donald Trump's urgent shipbuilding reforms and a rocky relationship between his undersecrear Cao, who supported Hegseth.

Tensions flared when Phelan went around Hegseth to pitch major defense ideas —such as building a "Trump-class" battleship— directly to the president. The battleship idea, was contrary to Navy plans moving towards smaller, faster vessels.

Now, the former Special Operations officer is learning that leading the Department of the Navy during an extended conflict requires more than political loyalty—it demands accountability. As the USS Abraham Lincoln remains deployed in dangerous waters with a crew pushed far past the breaking point, Cao is trapped between operational demands overseas and a burning fire of outrage at home.

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US Census: Leaked documents reveal plans to stop collecting race & ethnicity data

                                                                                                                      Pew Research Center

If they don’t count us, we don’t exist — and that’s precisely the point. Donald Trump and his followers would like nothing better than to have people of color disappear.

Leaked draft proposals reveal the Trump administration is pushing to erase race and ethnicity categories from the 2030 US Census, a move Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) leaders and civil rights advocates warn is a calculated strike to strip political power, gut federal funding, and force non-white communities into back to society's edges —uncounted and unseen.

Under the guise of streamlining government, draft proposals first reported by
Talking Points Memo frame the sweeping changes as routine administrative housekeeping:

Official rhetoric claims dropping race and ethnicity questions simplifies the questionnaire, cuts costs, and saves households a few minutes.

Administration allies argue that classifying residents by race promotes "racial stereotyping" and triggers reverse discrimination, pushing a rigid "colorblind" policy onto national data collection.

The regime's alleged proposal redirects government focus toward collecting strict legal status and citizenship metrics — a clear precursor to not counting noncitizens from congressional apportionment and redistricting counts.

A direct blow to AANHPI visibility

For AANHPI communities—currently the fastest-growing demographic in the country—stripping these metrics threatens to undo decades of progress toward data disaggregation, the vital process that exposes severe inequalities hidden beneath broad labels.

• Burying Subgroup Disparities: The "model minority" myth relies on aggregated data to paint a picture of universal success. Broad "Asian American" stats mask stark realities: while overall averages look prosperous on paper, disaggregated data shows groups like Burmese Americans face poverty rates as high as 39%. Scrapping ethnicity tracking leaves these critical needs completely undetected by policymakers.

• Gutting Language Access & Local Funding: Trillions in federal funding for public education, community health centers, and emergency services depend on hyper-local census counts. Without granular demographic data, local governments will lose both the funding and the legal mandate to provide crucial non-English language services.

Pew Research Center

Stripping away civil rights and political power

The stakes extend far beyond federal dollars — they strike at the core of legal protections and democratic representation for all communities of color. We've witnessed the regime's attack against inclusion and diversity, the lack of data would make it next to impossible to prove the need for equal rights.

• Eroding Voting Rights: If the historically disenfranchised  ever want  the Voting Rights Act back to spot gerrymandering and stop vote dilution, racial and ethnic data is the first step. Without baseline census figures, proving illegal district manipulation in court becomes almost impossible.

• Neutering Civil Rights Accountability: From fair housing audits to employment discrimination claims, establishing "disparate impact" requires statistical proof. Scrubbing racial categories deprives civil rights agencies and citizens of the evidence needed to hold institutions accountable under the law.

Corporations would be happy

Perhaps not too surprising but the elimination of racial and ethnic data would make corporations happy. For 60 years, in order to comply with federal regulations, the private sector begrudgingly installed DEI programs to improve their workforce representation. The corporations have also had to submit reports about the gender, racial and ethnic composition of their workforces

For 60 years, private businesses have had to submit their hiring data to make sure that the corporations are not discriminating by gender, race or ethnicity in their hiring or promotions. Without that data, it would be harder for employees or equal rights advocates to bring charges of discrimination.

And there's the bottom line to consider. Tracking and auditing demographic data requires dedicated software, time, and human resources. Many for-profit companies believe this requirement to be an unnecessary financial burden.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has already issued a proposal reflecting what the Trump regime wants to do with the federal workforce. The EEOC's Republican majority voted 2-1 last month to rescind the data collection requirement, submitting the proposal to a 30-day public commentary period before final approval. 

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, an outspoken critic of diversity and inclusion, argues that requiring companies to submit the annual demographic reports risks encouraging companies to justify discriminatory practices to diversify their workforce.

"It may promote racial stereotyping at work, and it may encourage employers to engage in discrimination," Lucas said during a hearing.

View from the edge

If you think you are seen, think again. The federal government is playing peek-a-boo with our community. Just when we thought we were finally getting counted, they pulled the rug out.

The quiet battle happening inside the Department of Commerce could completely change the 2030 Census. They want to stop collecting race and ethnicity data. They want to act like we do not exist. Conservative groups say these questions are too hard. But without this data, we cannot fight for our rights. Civil rights groups warn this will hurt our voting power.

For years, we have been lumped together as one huge group. That hides the truth. It makes us invisible.

Each group has different needs. When you mix us all together, you miss the high poverty rates in some communities. You miss the health struggles in others. You support the false idea that all Asians are doing great.

Last year, things looked good. The government passed Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (SPD 15). It promised to make detailed subgroup tracking the standard.

Now, those plans are dead. The Census Bureau quietly cancelled these updates for the upcoming 2027 American Community Survey (ACS). They pushed the deadlines way back to 2029. Advocacy groups like SEARAC and AAPIData are sounding the alarm. They know that delayed justice is denied justice.

“Disaggregated data is not optional; it’s essential,” said Quyên Đinh, Executive Director of SEARAC. “Without it, Southeast Asian American communities remain unseen and underserved. The updated data standards in SPD 15 are necessary to ensure our communities are visible in the data that drive decisions on resources, services, and policies.

Advocates aren't buying the administrative excuses. This isn't about saving paperwork or streamlining government — it is a deliberate political attempt to advance a "colorblind" mandate that erases diversity, dilutes minority political power, and masks entrenched racial inequities. 

Community advocates emphasize that data collection is fundamental to equity, noting that a community cannot be served if it is not counted. Community groups are already mobilizing to oppose the proposal, vowing to fight any policy changes that threaten to render minority communities invisible in federal accounting.

If you do not count us, you cannot serve us. Without separate numbers for each group, our schools will not get money for language help. Our health clinics will not get tools to fight specific diseases.

We cannot let them make us invisible again. We have to stand up and demand to be counted.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. If you find this perspective interesting, please repost.