An army of masked ICE agents snatching people when they show up to work, to church, to their child’s day care, to immigration court. A return of family separations. That deportation flight ASMR video the White House posted on X. Kristi Noem posing in front of tattooed detainees at El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
When it comes to President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, cruelty has always been the point, but anti-immigrant animus is now being paired with unprecedented funding, manpower, and technology. The GOP-controlled Congress poured tens of billions of dollars into ICE’s coffers and set off a feeding frenzy: States are lining up behind Florida to run their own detention centers, while administration-friendly contractors are busily pitching iris-scanning apps, logistics expertise, fleets of deportation-ready aircraft—sometimes without competing bids.
The new immigration dragnet is everywhere, rife with conflicts, and it’s only just begun.
The Vast, Terrifying Scale of Trump’s Detention State
With $75 billion and thousands of masked agents, ICE is just getting started.
Minority Report
Ballard Partners is helping companies cash in on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Inside the Hell of Alligator Alcatraz
Despite shocking conditions and rampant “psychological warfare,” copycats are popping up around the country.
A Town Divided by ICE
Trump has unleashed a gold rush among immigrant-detaining private prison companies. In cash-strapped cities, residents aren’t sure the money is worth it.
