ICE Arrests Fall Nearly 12% After Minneapolis Killings — But Florida Numbers Rose

ICE arrests nationwide dropped nearly 12 percent in the weeks following the killing of two American citizens by immigration officers in Minneapolis — but Florida was among the states where arrests actually climbed during that same period, according to federal data analyzed by the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents averaged 7,369 weekly arrests nationwide in the five weeks after border czar Tom Homan announced a drawdown in Minnesota on Feb. 4 — down from 8,347 per week in the prior five weeks. Those numbers represent a pullback from the December peak of nearly 40,000 arrests nationwide in a single month, the highest point of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement surge.

For Florida communities, including the Treasure Coast's mixed-status immigrant households and the region's agriculture, construction, and hospitality industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor, the local trend ran opposite to the national one. Florida was among a handful of states where ICE arrests rose significantly after Feb. 4, in some cases reaching the highest weekly counts since the start of Trump's second term, according to federal records analysis. Immigrant advocacy organizations in South Florida have reported heightened anxiety among undocumented residents and their U.S.-citizen family members across the region.

The national slowdown followed the late January killings in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both American citizens, by immigration officers during enforcement operations. The killings triggered a shake-up: Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who publicly championed the "turn and burn" enforcement philosophy and led raids at restaurant kitchens, bus stops, and Home Depot parking lots, was pushed aside. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was abruptly fired in early March, a move public polling suggests was connected to growing backlash against the tactics employed during what officials called Operation Metro Surge.

Even as arrests dropped nationally, the share of people with no criminal history remained elevated. In the five weeks before Feb. 4, some 46 percent of those arrested by ICE had no criminal charges or convictions; that share fell to 41 percent afterward — but remained above the 35 percent weekly average since Trump returned to office.

"The Trump administration says: 'We're not slowing down,' 'Nothing has changed,'" said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council. "But it's very clear that they have pulled back from some of the tactics of Operation Metro Surge."

For the Treasure Coast's estimated tens of thousands of foreign-born residents — many of them long-settled in St. Lucie and Martin county neighborhoods and employed in sectors that underpin the regional economy — the divergence between national trends and Florida's rising numbers means the enforcement surge has not receded locally the way it has elsewhere. School enrollment patterns, workforce participation rates, and community health clinic utilization all serve as downstream indicators that local officials and institutions will be watching in the months ahead.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.