Federal immigration officers in the United States have been involved in a significant increase in firearm incidents in recent months, according to new data. The rise coincides with a major expansion of immigration enforcement efforts during Donald Trump's second term in office.
A Sharp Rise in Use of Force
Since July 2025, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been connected to 14 separate shootings. This information comes from data compiled by the Trace, a non-profit newsroom that specialises in reporting on gun violence.
The newsroom used information from the Gun Violence Archive and media reports to track incidents where federal agents either shot someone or held individuals at gunpoint during operations under Trump's crackdown. By 7 January, it had identified 28 incidents in total, which included the 14 shootings.
The Trace has cautioned that these figures likely represent an undercount, as shootings involving immigration agents are not always made public in a consistent manner.
Beyond Firearms: Less-Lethal Weapons and Protests
The documented use of force extends beyond shootings with firearms. Investigators also found 13 cases where ICE agents deployed less-lethal weapons, such as rubber bullets or pepper balls. Ten of these incidents occurred during protests.
Among those injured were two pastors who were struck with pepper balls while leading prayers at demonstrations in California and Illinois.
The most recent fatal shooting happened on a Wednesday in Minneapolis. Federal agents shot and killed a woman during a large-scale immigration enforcement action. Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota stated the victim was "a legal observer" of ICE activity. Agents had been deployed to the city in large numbers following allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
Unprecedented Scale of Enforcement and Detention
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a major enforcement operation in the Minneapolis area, involving approximately 2,000 agents and officers. This action is part of a wider crackdown that began in Los Angeles in June 2025 and has since expanded to multiple cities including Washington DC, Chicago, Memphis, Portland, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Minneapolis.
This push for mass detention and deportation has led to a dramatic surge in the number of people held in custody. In less than a year, the Trump administration has increased the population in ICE detention facilities by nearly 50%. DHS currently detains more than 65,000 people. Overall, the administration has arrested over 328,000 individuals and deported nearly 327,000.
The scale of detention has caused severe overcrowding, with most facilities operating beyond their official capacity.
2025 Becomes Deadliest Year in Decades
The consequences of this aggressive policy are stark. In addition to the 14 shootings involving ICE agents, 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025. According to the American Immigration Council, this makes 2025 the deadliest year for the agency in more than two decades, matching a previous record high set in 2004.
The organisation reports that the first year of Trump's second term has proven deadlier than 2020, when deaths spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic. It attributes the rising death toll to a combination of overcrowding, poor detention conditions, medical neglect, escalating mental health crises, and gun violence.
The data paints a concerning picture of the human cost associated with the administration's intensified immigration enforcement strategy.
