ICE's wide net captures AAPI, even American citizens: Part 1 of 2

One of ICE's major goof-ups was the arrest of 300 South Korean workers at a
Hyundai plant under construction in Georgia.

To the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who supported Donald Trump, the latest data from a UCLA study serves as a devastating reality check, revealing that ICE arrests of Asian immigrants more than tripled in 2025 compared to the previous year. 

The study by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge found that Asian Americans are just as likely to be arrested and detained by immigration enforcement agents than Latinos, who make up a majority of the detainees.

That vulnerability was hammered home with the March 13 death of Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal while in the custody of ICE, the third Asian American detainee death in the first three months of 2026.

This spike is the direct result of the Trump administration's "mass deportation" policy, designed by Stephen Miller, which has shifted from targeting criminals to an indiscriminate dragnet, with 74% to 84% of detainees having no prior criminal convictions.

It doesn't matter if you're an American citizen, green card holder, a refugee who is here legally, a worker with special skills, or if you have a student or visitor visa, Trump's radical Supreme Court says ICE can detain anyone without an ounce of evidence simply on the color of one's skin or if someone speaks with an accent.

FYI: Research briefs from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center (AASC) and the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge (CNK)

Research from the UCLA Asian American Studies Center confirms that ICE arrests of Asian immigrants more than tripled in 2025, with 74% to 84% of those detained having no criminal convictions, driven by a quota-driven, indiscriminate dragnet [1.1].

The human toll of this policy is fatal, with five Asian immigrants among the 32 people who died in ICE custody in 2025, including 55-year-old Nhon Ngoc Nguyen, as the system expands its targeting of vulnerable populations.

Even though Chaofeng Ge's hands and feet were tied behind him, ICE unbelievably, ruled his
death a suicide disputed by his brother Yanfeng Ge (above).

This targeted surge — including a 471% increase in the detention of Asian women—demonstrates that the "America First" agenda is actively dismantling AAPI communities in states like California, Texas, and New York. Between January and mid-October 2025 alone, 7,069 Asian individuals have been detained.

        RELATED: 12 Asian Americans have died in ICE custody 

With the administration aiming for a million deportations annually, these findings, highlighting a 96% detention rate, expose the fallacy that any segment of the immigrant community is safe from the Trump-Miller agenda.

Other highlights of the study include:

• In the first week of June 2025, Asian arrests were nearly nine times higher than the same week in 2024.

• There was a notable 471% increase in the number of female Asian detainees, and the median age of detainees rose from 35 to 40

• Five countries accounted for roughly 80% of all Asian ICE arrests: China (30%), India (26–28%), Vietnam (15%), Laos (6%), and Nepal (3%).

•  Nearly half of all arrests occurred in just three states: California (which saw a ninefold jump), Texas, and New York.

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.