WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has portrayed his federal law enforcement surge in Washington as focused on tackling crime. But data from the federal operation, analyzed by The Associated Press, shows that more than 40% of the arrests made over the monthlong operation were in fact related to immigration.
The finding highlights that in the nation’s capital, the administration continued to advance its hardline immigration agenda.
The Trump administration has claimed success in the federal takeover in D.C., saying it has led to more than 2,300 arrests, including more than a dozen homicide suspects, 20 alleged gang members and hundreds of people accused of drug and gun crimes. More than 220 illegal guns have been taken off the street, including in one case from a teen who made a concerning social media post about a school, officials said.
Yet the prominence of immigration arrests — more than 940 people — has fueled criticism that the true purpose of the operation may have been to expand deportations. For critics, the effort appears less a one-off push against crime in the capital than a model for federal intervention and the highlighting of violent crime in other cities led by Democratic mayors, a familiar political playbook that Trump leaned on during the 2020 campaign.
Already, officials in Chicago, long a foil for the administration’s law-and-order rhetoric, were bracing for an influx of immigration agents and possibly National Guard troops. Trump himself fanned speculation over the weekend, posting on social media a parody image from “Apocalypse Now” with helicopters looming over Chicago and the caption: “I love the smell of deportations in the morning.”
The administration has repeatedly argued that deportations are inseparable from crime reduction, often casting those arrested by immigration authorities as the “worst of the worst.” Still, it remains unclear how many of those taken into custody in Washington had any other charges pending.
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said many had prior arrests, convictions or outstanding warrants for crimes like assault, drug possession and child sexual abuse, without specifying a number.
