In Focus by The Hindu Accountability on ICE: How are Trump’s military-style anti-immigrant raids impacting America?
Feb 17, 2026
Joyojeet Pal, a University of Michigan information professor who studies tech, surveillance and immigration enforcement. He discusses ICE’s expanding militarized role and recent deadly raids. Short takes cover sanctuary city tensions, who is being targeted, community resistance and the political and technological forces reshaping enforcement.
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Federal Policing Reshapes City Life
- ICE enforcement in cities like Minneapolis has dramatically increased visible federal policing and provoked strong local protests.
- The scale and concentration of agents changed how residents experience their city and escalated confrontations.
Legality Versus Lethality
- Federal deployment to enforce immigration is legally permissible even if locally contested and framed as overreach.
- The larger danger is US policing's higher risk of fatal escalation compared with other OECD countries.
Undocumented Population And Targeting
- About 4% of the US population is undocumented, roughly 11–15 million people, meaning many Americans personally know undocumented individuals.
- Recent enforcement tactics target locations and populations that concentrate undocumented Latino workers, increasing Latino impact.
