With aggressive
arrests in the streets
A social
media blitz
And crackdowns
on protesters
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
Recapture the America your forefathers created.Prevent foreign infiltration.
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out. https://join.ice.gov
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
PROTECT OUR NATION. JOIN ICE NOW.http://JOIN.ICE.GOV
There’s a battle on three fronts as DHS turbocharges its immigration offensive
Published January 9, 2026 | Updated January 19, 2026
Editor’s Note: This story contains violent images.
There’s a new normal in many parts of the country a year into President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
With aggressive arrests, a non-stop social media blitz and crackdowns on protesters, his administration’s turbocharged immigration offensive is changing what we see on the streets — and online.
A major flashpoint erupted January 7 when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis in what the Department of Homeland Security called an act of self-defense and the city’s mayor decried as “an agent recklessly using power.” The deadly shooting sparked protests across the US.
Critics accuse authorities of deploying dangerous tactics that put people at risk. Officials argue they’re taking necessary steps to keep Americans safe — and vow that there's more to come. “ICE had a busy year,” a recent agency social media post boasted, “but the work is just getting started.”
Here are three major shifts we’re watching, and why these changes are so controversial.
Arrests are getting
more aggressive
Aggressive arrests are playing out frequently in public, with some federal authorities using tactics such as shattering car windows and tackling their targets.
Note: CNN has edited video footage for length, and in some instances bleeped profanity and blurred faces to obscure identities.
Officers in plain clothes tackle a grocery store worker to the ground and get out a Taser as he screams for help. ICE says the man was under criminal investigation for fraud and attempted to evade and resist arrest.
Courtesy Escucha Mi Voz Iowa
Officers push a 79-year-old US citizen to the ground inside the car wash he owns, then slam him to the ground outside during an immigration enforcement operation. DHS says the man “was arrested for assaulting and impeding a federal officer.” He is later released from custody without charges.
Courtesy V. James/ Desimone Law
A man yells for help as officers in plain clothes carry him into an unmarked car outside a courthouse. DHS says he was detained after a preliminary hearing on drug trafficking charges and had been ordered removed from the US.
Courtesy LA Public Press
An officer slams a woman to the ground after her husband is detained. A DHS spokesperson says shortly afterward that the officer’s behavior was “unacceptable,” and that he’s been relieved of his current duties pending an investigation. According to an NPR report, the officer was back on the job days later, and the DHS Office of Inspector General ultimately decided not to open a criminal investigation into the matter.
Courtesy FreedomNewsTV
Officers drag a Colombian woman from her vehicle while she’s livestreaming her arrest on TikTok. DHS says the woman was convicted of driving under the influence.
@dianaluespeciales / Instagram
Officers tackle a Venezuelan man who’s at a courthouse to face charges, knocking over a bystander as they make the arrest. DHS says the man resisted arrest, tried to flee and caused the bystander’s fall.
New Hampshire Judicial Branch via AP
Officers open fire and break a vehicle’s window. DHS says it was an act of self-defense after a man “struck two CBP officers with his vehicle” during an immigration enforcement operation. The family inside the vehicle says they drove away out of fear for their safety after masked men emerged from unmarked cars and surrounded their truck with weapons drawn.
Courtesy Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Officers smash the car window of a Guatemalan man who ICE says refused to comply with officers’ instructions and resisted apprehension. In a cell phone video, the man is heard telling officers his lawyer is on the way before the window is shattered.
Courtesy Ondine Galvez Sniffin
Officers smash a car window and detain a man who says he’s a US citizen with a REAL ID. CBP says the man was acting “erratic,” escalated the situation, and refused to comply with officers’ lawful commands. The man is released without any charges.
Courtesy Willy Wender Aceituno Medina/Facebook
Officers shatter a car window while arresting a 33-year-old Mexican man who they say has previously been deported, has a history of DUI and failed to stop for police vehicles. In a video she recorded of the arrest, the man’s partner screams that there’s a child in the car.
Courtesy Maya England
Officers allegedly spray “chemical or pepper spray” into a moving car as a family drives away. The family says they were leaving a Sam's Club parking lot after hearing sirens and whistles. A DHS spokesperson denies the allegations.
Obtained by CNN
Critics say the administration’s goal of 3,000 arrests per day is one reason the government’s tactics are becoming more combative.
“The rules of engagement have changed to hit the quotas of arrests. … And as the White House has said, the gloves are off.”
– Jason Houser, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief of staff during the Biden administrationJason Houser, a former ICE chief of staff during the Biden administration, says these methods have a high cost: greater risks for agents, and a significant loss in public trust.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has said agents who “put their lives on the line every day to enforce the law” are facing “smearing” by claims that the agency is using “harsher approaches.”
“ICE and CBP are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and themselves,” McLaughlin told CNN, adding that ICE officers are facing a significant increase in assaults against them. “Our officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”
A new normal: Officers wearing masks
As arrests have increased in communities across the country, another significant change keeps drawing attention: what federal officers and agents are wearing.
Mask-wearing has become a prevalent calling card of the Trump administration’s crackdown — and it’s a notable shift from the past. Critics warn that masks unjustly shield officers from accountability — and at least one state now has a law on the books banning the practice. “It’s like a dystopian sci-fi movie,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in September as he signed a new state law banning most law enforcement from wearing masks during operations.
Federal officials, who are suing to block California’s ban, say the masks help protect officers’ safety. McLaughlin says criminal organizations have placed bounties on officers’ heads.
“When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement while wearing masks to protect themselves and their families from being targeted by highly sophisticated gangs like Tren de Aragua and MS-13, criminal rings, murderers, and rapists,” she says.
Federal agents wearing masks patrol the halls of an immigration court.
Michael Nigro/Sipa
Officers wearing masks detain a migrant as he walks out of a hearing at an immigration court.
David 'Dee' Delgado/Reuters
Officers in plain clothes tackle a grocery store worker to the ground.
Escucha Mi Voz Iowa
Officers in plain clothes carry a man into an unmarked car outside a courthouse.
LA Public Press
Officers wearing masks smash a car window and detain a man.
Willy Wender Aceituno Medina/Facebook
Other aspects of officers’ attire have also drawn attention
Officers conducting immigration arrests have been observed on the streets wearing a wide range of attire, including militaristic camouflage, plainclothes and uniforms referencing different federal agencies.
What officers are wearing will likely have an impact far beyond these immigration enforcement operations, according to Gil Kerlikowske, who headed Customs and Border Protection during the Obama administration.
“They’re wearing ‘POLICE’ on the front or the back of their camouflage. ... You see the masked agents roughing people up, grabbing them, throwing them into unmarked cars,” he says. And many people in communities, Kerlikowske says, won’t be able to tell the difference between federal agents and local police forces who he says have been working hard to rebuild trust in recent years.
Wearing camouflage can also inflame tensions, the former commissioner says.
“The camouflage is much more militaristic, and for many places that they worked on the border, the camouflage made a lot of sense and was a good idea,” he says. “In an urban area, it really just only generates controversy and, frankly, concern.”
DHS reiterated that its officers exercise restraint despite facing threats and attacks, but didn’t provide an explanation for the varying uniforms its officers wear or a response to concerns about camouflaged officers heightening tensions in communities.
Officers wear camouflage during an enforcement operation at a car wash.
V. James/ Desimone Law
An officer wearing camouflage and an officer wearing a standard Border Patrol uniform detain a man in a residential neighborhood.
Adam Gray/AFP/Getty Images
A masked officer carrying a large militaristic weapon stands beside a vehicle during an immigration enforcement operation.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images
Is such a show of force necessary? That depends on who you ask.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says agents are rooting out dangerous criminals who’ve found refuge in sanctuary cities like Chicago. “This is a war zone,” she told Fox News in October.
But Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told CNN it’s federal officers who are causing chaos in Chicago and other communities.
“They are the ones that are making it a war zone,” he says. He points to an October raid as a telling example, describing officers breaking windows and doors, and zip-tying children.
DHS has disputed Pritzker’s description of those arrests, and officials maintain they’re focused on the “worst of the worst.” But data on who’s been arrested so far paints a more complicated picture.
Many detained immigrants don’t have criminal convictions
While the Trump administration claims its arrests are focused on major criminals that it calls “the worst of the worst,” officials are also detaining many immigrants with no criminal records. The number of detained immigrants is growing, but about half of ICE and CBP detainees in 2025 had no criminal convictions or pending charges outside immigration violations.
Source: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
Graphic: Alex Leeds Matthews, CNN
McLaughlin, the DHS spokeswoman, says claims that authorities aren’t targeting the “worst of the worst” are a “false narrative.” She says 70% of undocumented immigrants ICE arrested across the US have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, and adds that the statistic doesn’t reflect arrests of people who are wanted for violent crimes outside the US.
The dramatic show of force is likely to intensify. ICE is hiring 10,000 new agents. The agency was awarded a historic infusion of more than $75 billion in funding last year. And according to federal data on weapons and equipment purchases, ICE and CBP spent more than $44 million for items including guns, ammunition, chemical sprays and body armor in 2025.
DHS weapons spending skyrocketed during the first year of Trump's second term
ICE and Customs and Border Protection spending on weapons and related expenses increased more than 170% in 2025 compared to the previous year. Purchases include firearms, non-lethal chemical munitions and gun range sessions.
ICE and CBP spending on weapons, by calendar year
Note: Includes awards with a Product and Service Code (PSC) for weapons. Data is current through December 31, 2025.
Source: USA Spending
Graphic: Alex Leeds Matthews, CNN
Asked about the increase in weapons spending, McLaughlin calls the matter a “non-story,” pointing to the hiring of thousands of new agents.
“It should come as no surprise that we purchase and acquire firearms for law enforcement,” she says.
And officials also have a different sort of weapon that’s playing a central role in their campaign.
A social media blitz is sending
a clear message
Public statements from the Department of Homeland Security and its leaders have dramatically shifted in content and tone under Trump’s second administration — something that officials and their critics say is no accident.
Gone are most of the dry, traditional social media posts about meetings, statistics and ceremonies. Instead the department’s feed is now dominated by recruiting posts invoking national symbols, nostalgic artwork often emphasizing White identity and cinematic videos of arrests.
Note: The posts shown were shared by DHS X and Instagram accounts. CNN has edited video footage from these posts to remove music and blurred faces to obscure identities.
Recruiting posts invoking national symbols
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
America has been invaded by criminals and predators.
We need YOU to get them out.
https://join.ice.gov
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
Recapture the America your forefathers created.
Prevent foreign infiltration.
Nostalgic artwork emphasizing White identity
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
Remember your Homeland’s Heritage.
New Life in a New Land - Morgan Weistling
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.
American Progress - John Gast
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
“My brave fellows, you have done all I asked you to do, and more than can be reasonably expected; but your country is at stake, your wives, your houses and all that you hold dear.” - George Washington, December, 1776
‘Washington at Valley Forge’ — Edward Percy Moran (1911)
“It’s an image of America that erases most Americans,” says CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem, a former DHS official in the Obama administration. “If you look at the feed in its totality, it is: This is the way America should look, and this is how we're going to get there.”
Cinematic videos of arrests
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
TO EVERY CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIEN IN AMERICA: Darkness is no longer your ally. You represent an existential threat to the citizens of the United States, and US Border Patrol's Special Operations Group will stop at nothing to hunt you down.
The department's social media accounts also frequently share posts touting arrests, critiques of media reports, memes making light of deportations and allusions to pop culture.
CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem, a former DHS official in the Obama administration, says the posts take a similar approach to the more aggressive tactics DHS has been seen using on the streets in this administration. Many, she says, seem aimed at inflaming tensions rather than quieting them.
“It is falsely imagining a world in which the streets are on fire. It is lying about the amount of crime on the streets and mayhem on the streets and it is showing images of a hunt.”
– Juliette Kayyem, CNN national security analystAsked recently about the motifs of White identity featured in DHS social media posts, and about accusations of misleading and inflammatory messages from the department’s accounts, McLaughlin reiterated a response she first provided to CNN months ago.
“Calling everything you dislike ‘Nazi propaganda’ is tiresome,” McLaughlin said over the summer after wording in a DHS post appeared to reference a book that’s a mainstay in White supremacist literature.
Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol chief who’s become the face of crackdowns across the country, says the agency is sharing more videos, produced by Border Patrol agents, to increase transparency with the public.
“This is not agenda-driven. Our social media is designed to give the public … a real-time snapshot of what is really happening,” Bovino told CNN in October.
But a recent Washington Post investigation found multiple Trump administration videos “purporting to show the triumph of recent immigration operations used footage that was months old or recorded thousands of miles away.” Here’s an example:
Note: CNN has edited video footage from this post to blur faces and obscure identities.
An incompetent Mayor. A delusional Governor. Chicago is in chaos, and the American people are paying the price.
Chicago doesn't need political spin—it needs HELP.
DHS shared a White House post with a video that claimed to show footage from Chicago in 2025, but included 2024 footage from Uvalde, Texas.
The video also includes footage of a law enforcement operation near a row of palm trees, a sight not seen in Chicago.
Examples in the newspaper’s report represent a small fraction of the more than 400 videos DHS has posted since the beginning of Trump’s second term, McLaughlin says.
“Violence and rioting against law enforcement is unacceptable regardless of where it occurs,” she says.
According to the Post, its investigation prompted a White House spokeswoman to respond that the Trump administration “will continue to highlight the many successes of the president’s agenda through engaging content and banger memes on social media.”
Eddie Perez, a former director for civic integrity at Twitter, tells CNN he thinks the videos are troubling — as are officials’ responses to the newspaper’s findings. “They have quite literally constructed, out of whole cloth, a mini-movie to tell a story that does not, in fact, bear resemblance to the facts,” he says.
Beyond social media posts, official press releases from the Department of Homeland Security have also taken a more aggressive tone.
Anatomy of a Homeland Security press release
Under the second Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security’s press releases have seen a marked shift in tone, according to a CNN analysis. The words repeated in press release titles largely focus on ICE arrests and crimes committed by immigrants.
Here's a look at one recent press release title and how its language compares with past administrations:
When DHS officials speak, many Americans are listening. The agency has millions of followers on social media, and many of its posts spur praise from supporters of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration.
But when its officers enter some communities, DHS is coming face to face with a much less receptive audience.
Protests are growing.
And authorities are pushing back
It’s increasingly common to see crowds surrounding officers during arrests, recording what unfolds and voicing their frustrations. ICE facilities have also drawn more protests. And it’s become more common to see federal authorities pushing back as tensions boil over.
They’ve tossed tear gas canisters into crowds they deem riotous and unruly, fired pepper balls at protesters and tackled onlookers.
Note: CNN has edited video footage for length, and in some instances bleeped profanity and blurred faces to obscure identities.
Multiple witnesses record video from different angles of an ICE officer shooting and killing a 37-year-old woman who is driving a red SUV. DHS says in a statement that “violent rioters weaponized” a vehicle and attempted to run over officers. “An ICE officer, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots,” DHS says. Multiple witnesses dispute that description, telling CNN that the woman had been pulling away to leave the scene and that the use of force was not justified.
X/Courtesy Trevor Heitkamp
During a confrontation with protesters, an officer drags a woman through the street and kneels on her back as onlookers shout “let her go” and say the woman is pregnant — a claim CNN has not verified. A DHS spokeswoman says the woman had “rushed an ICE vehicle and attempted to vandalize it,” according to the Associated Press, but that she was ultimately not arrested because officers were swarmed by protesters who “threw rocks, chunks of ice, assaulted officers and used pepper spray.”
Courtesy Lauryn Spencer/AP, LIBAN SHOW
Officers shoot pepper balls from the rooftop of an ICE facility down at protesters, including a pastor. DHS says “agitators” ignored verbal warnings and were impeding operations by blocking an ICE vehicle from leaving the facility -- a claim the pastor has denied.
Courtesy Kelly Hayes
Officers shoot an apparent chemical spray as protests erupt near a paper factory that’s the site of an ICE criminal investigation.
Obtained by CNN
An officer repeatedly strikes a person in the head during an arrest as onlookers scream. DHS says a hostile crowd surrounded agents, verbally abusing them and spitting on them, and while Border Patrol arrested an individual who was resisting arrest, pepper spray was deployed “to deter the agitator and disperse the crowd.”
Obtained by the Chicago Tribune
Officers slam a protester to the ground outside an ICE facility in what DHS says was a targeted arrest of a “dangerous rioter” who “has previously assaulted law enforcement.” Oregon state officials released the video in a lawsuit over what they allege is excessive force.
Courtesy Oregon Department of Justice
An immigrant rights activist and US citizen says officers deliberately rammed into his pickup truck. DHS says it was a “targeted enforcement operation.”
Courtesy ROSA
Describing what he said was “an agent recklessly using power” who shot and killed a woman in his city on January 7, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had a message for ICE.
“Get the f**k out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here,” Frey said in a news conference hours after the shooting. “Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite.”
Noem told reporters that Frey “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“It's very clear that this individual was harassing and impeding law enforcement operations,” she said. “Our officer followed his training, did exactly what he’s been taught to do in that situation, and took actions to defend himself and defend his fellow law enforcement officers.”
Even before the fatal January shooting, federal authorities’ response to protesters has drawn criticism.
Kerlikowske, the former CBP commissioner and an expert witness for protesters and journalists in a case alleging federal authorities used excessive force in the Chicago area, says there’s a clear takeaway from videos of protests there.
“The Border Patrol is absolutely, without question, the wrong fit to police in an urban area,” he says. Officers' training and experience doesn't prepare them well for that role, he adds.
Federal authorities' lack of training was evident in protest responses in September outside an ICE facility in suburban Chicago, Kerlikowske told CNN, especially compared with video of how Illinois State Police handled protests in that location.
“They (state police) were disciplined. They were focused. They weren’t wearing masks. They handled people appropriately, and people listened and followed their orders. The Border Patrol then comes out from behind a fence with orders from Bovino to ‘light ’em up.’ And the next thing you know, they just start shooting this barrage of pepper balls, which are meant to be shot into the ground, not at people. ... We just saw injury after injury after injury.”
Bovino, a Border Patrol chief, has argued repeatedly in court and in interviews that authorities’ use of force has been “exemplary.”
In an October interview with CNN, Bovino pointed particularly to events in Los Angeles and Chicago when he used that description.
“We had riots, large-scale riots...in Los Angeles. I don’t remember anyone except a Border Patrol agent that was hurt that day, with thousands of people protesting,” Bovino said.
Oct. 3, Chicago, IL
A judge ruled that in this video, cited in a federal court case alleging excessive force against protesters in Chicago, Bovino “obviously tackles” a protester. In a deposition, Bovino denies that he tackled the man and says the incident would not be considered a reportable use of force. “I’m imploring (him)...to comply with leaving the area and to comply with instructions,” Bovino says, adding “the use of force was against me.”
Oct. 23, Chicago, IL
A judge ruled that Gregory Bovino admitted in his deposition that he “lied multiple times about the events...that prompted him to throw tear gas at protesters” in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood in October. Bovino had initially claimed he deployed tear gas after a rock was thrown and hit him. Later in his deposition he said he deployed tear gas before the rock hit him.
But Bovino has faced stern rebukes from a federal judge, who ruled that his descriptions of events weren’t supported by video evidence and that federal authorities were using excessive force against protesters and journalists during their Chicago operation.
Weapons used against protesters
During recent protests and routine immigration enforcement operations, videos and photos have documented federal authorities using a range of crowd control weapons, including tear gas, pepper balls and pepper spray. Weapons such as rubber bullets and flash bangs, generally intended for use in larger protests, were employed during the June protests in Los Angeles.
CS gas
- What it is: Common form of tear gas frequently dispersed from canisters
- Effects: Irritates the sinuses, lungs and skin; can cause excessive tearing, burning, or blurred vision and a runny nose, as well as a burning sensation inside the nose
- Recent deployments: Widely used in Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz, which began in September
Pepper balls
- What they are: Projectiles fired from weapons that look like paintball guns
- Effects: The impact of a chemical irritant married with the blunt force of a paintball
- Recent deployments: Used as a crowd-control tactic in Chicago and other cities by federal agents
Pepper spray
- What it is: Hand-held aerosol can dispersing a chemical irritant that can be derived from chili peppers
- Effects: Can cause excessive tearing, burning or blurred vision as well as a runny nose
- Recent deployments: Used as a crowd control tactic in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis
Flash bang grenades
- What they are: Small explosives that can be fired from a launcher or thrown by hand, detonating with a bright flash of light
- Effects: Can simultaneously blind and deafen a target for a short time
- Recent deployments: Used during June protests in Los Angeles and during large-scale protests in Portland
Rubber bullets
- What they are: Larger than lethal bullets; some include cores made of metal or wood
- Effects: Can cause serious physical injuries upon impact
- Recent deployments: Used during protests in Los Angeles and Chicago
Critics accuse the government of using “weapons of war” against peaceful communities.
“We could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof, and it was deeply disturbing,” says Rev. David Black, a pastor who was shot with pepper balls while protesting outside the suburban Chicago facility.
Officials maintain their use of force has been appropriate, highlight threats to law enforcement personnel doing their jobs and accuse state and local leaders of promoting lawlessness.
“Keep in mind that rioters and terrorists have opened fire on officers, thrown rocks, bottles, and fireworks at them, slashed the tires of their vehicles, and have destroyed multiple law enforcement vehicles. Others have chosen to ignore commands and have attempted to impede law enforcement operations and used their vehicles as weapons against our officers,” McLaughlin says.
“Despite these grave threats and dangerous situations our law enforcement is put in, they show incredible restraint in exhausting all options before any kind of non-lethal force is used.”
– Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretaryPolling shows most Americans disapprove of how ICE is enforcing immigration laws. And there are signs authorities may be shifting their tactics in the face of recent court challenges and public pushback, Kerlikowske says, noting that responses have been more measured during recent operations in Charlotte, New York and New Orleans.
“You're not seeing that whole level of bravado,” he says.
But Trump has been unwavering in his support of DHS and its mission. The president held firm when asked in a recent CBS interview about videos showing car windows being smashed, tear gas in residential neighborhoods and ICE agents tackling a young mother.
“Have some of these raids gone too far?” Norah O’Donnell asked.
“No,” Trump replied. “I think they haven’t gone far enough.”
