The Progress Report: February 18
Donald Trump promised law and order—his administration’s ICE is delivering the opposite.
THE CASE
Trump promised to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally—but that’s not what his ICE is focused on. They’re detaining thousands of people illegally. They’re sweeping up pregnant women and babies. And even jailing U.S. citizens. This “strategy” is creating a backlog in our courts, making it harder to hold actual violent criminals accountable and keep people safe.
KEY FACTS AND DATA
ICE continues to detain people illegally and target U.S. citizens, women and young children.
Hundreds of judges across the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that the Trump administration is detaining people unlawfully—but ICE isn’t showing signs of stopping. [Reuters]
In Minnesota, a U.S. citizen was dragged out of his home at gunpoint by ICE, forced into sub-freezing temperatures in just his underwear. [PBS]
Judges are voicing alarm at ICE’s treatment of pregnant and nursing women—from separating women from nursing infants to housing pregnant women in cramped and ill-equipped detention centers. [Politico]
Yesterday, we learned that a 2-month-old baby—Juan Nicholás—was deported along with his family while actively fighting a case of bronchitis he developed in detention and which hospitalized him earlier this week. [The Barbed Wire]
Despite their claims, ICE has failed to lock up “the worst of the worst.”
ICE has dramatically increased the number of people they arrest and detain since President Trump took office. Their own records show that less than 14% had violent records. [CBS]
Trump’s sweeping, reckless roundups are clogging up immigration courts, making it harder—not easier—to deport violent criminals in the country illegally.
Immigration courts already struggled to keep up with the number of cases—the backlog stood at nearly 3.8 million cases in June 2025. Then, Trump’s OBBBA capped the number of immigration judges, making it even harder for the immigration system to keep up. [Council on Foreign Relations]
The administration is flooding the system even further with mass roundups of law-abiding immigrants and citizens—it’s all cruelty and enforcement with no reform
CALL TO ACTION
Share this video with your networks to show why Democrats’ 10 commonsense reforms to hold ICE accountable must be adopted to make our communities safer.