Four Months In, Trump’s D.C. Law-Enforcement Surge Draws Criticism for Targeting Immigrants

When President Donald Trump launched a federal law-enforcement operation in Washington, D.C., roughly four months ago, he framed it as an effort to combat rising crime. Activists, immigrant-rights groups and local officials now say the campaign has also become a concerted crackdown on immigrants, creating widespread fear and prompting legal challenges.

Numbers and Scope

Official records reviewed by The Associated Press show that roughly one-third of the more than 7,500 arrests tied to the operation through Monday were immigration-related. An analysis from September found that about 40% of 2,400 arrests that month were immigration-linked. Data compiled by the University of California Berkeley Deportation Data Project, using U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement figures, show that of roughly 1,130 immigration arrests made through Oct. 15, approximately 947 involved people with no criminal record or pending criminal charges.

Community Impact

Although the emergency order that briefly placed parts of D.C.'s policing under federal control expired in September, residents continue to report checkpoints, masked agents, unmarked vehicles and frequent detentions. Dozens of witnesses detailed these concerns during a more than 10-hour municipal hearing this month, describing stops at school drop-off zones, food distribution sites, landscaping worksites and apartment buildings with large Hispanic populations.

Several residents recounted arrests that began with routine traffic stops. Nadia Salazar Sandi, a Bolivian immigrant, told the hearing that multiple family members have been detained in recent months, leaving empty seats at family gatherings. Other witnesses described families pulling children out of therapy or avoiding public services for fear of encountering immigration agents.

Legal Challenges and Official Responses

A federal judge recently barred the administration from conducting broad immigration arrests in the capital without warrants or probable cause that those arrested violated immigration law or are flight risks. Plaintiffs, including the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that federal officers had been patrolling and placing checkpoints in neighborhoods with large Hispanic populations and then stopping and arresting people indiscriminately.

In court documents, plaintiff José Escobar Molina says he was handcuffed by unidentified federal agents while walking from his apartment to his truck despite holding temporary legal protections and long-term residence in the city. The administration counters that agents had probable cause in such detentions and that arrests in D.C. and elsewhere are carried out lawfully with due process.

Political and Practical Limits

The White House has defended the operation as targeting crime regardless of immigration status. After two National Guard members were shot in an incident allegedly involving an Afghan national, the president said he planned to bring in additional troops. Local officials say their ability to constrain federal enforcement is limited because the District of Columbia does not have the same autonomy as states.

'The frustrating truth,' said Council Member Brooke Pinto, 'is that we do not have the same levers of power and control, nor the same rights, as a district that every one of the 50 other states have to protect our residents.'

As the federal presence continues, immigrant advocates warn that enforcement tactics and the psychological toll of frequent detentions are reshaping daily life for many families across the city.