Immigration arrests have quadrupled in Colorado and almost tripled in Wyoming since President Donald Trump took office in January with a significant shift in who is being targeted, new data from the federal government shows.
Most people arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents between Jan. 20 and June 26 of this year in Colorado and Wyoming did not have any criminal convictions, according to ICE data released over the last few weeks. Among those arrested who had a conviction at the time of their arrest, the most serious crime is most often noted by ICE as drunken driving in both Colorado and Wyoming, the data shows.
The data, obtained from ICE and published by the Deportation Data Project, is the most detailed, publicly available picture of who is being swept up by ICE’s dragnet arrest tactics in the two Western states this year. The University of California, Berkeley School of Law, which is behind the project, published the data, and The Colorado Sun and WyoFile analyzed arrests made under the jurisdiction of ICE’s Denver field office, which covers both states.
The ICE arrest data contradicts the purported goals of the Trump administration to target the “worst of the worst.” Increasingly, ICE is arresting immigrants with no criminal history, the data shows. Advocates who work with immigrant communities said the tactics, which include arresting people who appear for their immigration court proceedings, are unlike anything they’ve seen before.
Laura Lunn, director of advocacy and litigation at Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, said in her 15 years of working with immigrants, she has never seen ICE arrest people with pending asylum cases and no criminal history. Now, she said, that is common in Colorado.
“People are being picked up from their homes, workplaces, people are being picked up as they’re walking their dogs,” she said. “This is ruthless and I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
The arrest dataset is imperfect, and The Colorado Sun and WyoFile analysis required reporters to make inferences. For example, some arrests were noted as having occurred in the Denver field office area, but the data entry did not include whether the arrest took place in Colorado or Wyoming.
In these cases, reporters used an arrestee’s unique ID number to search for the state in which they were arrested in another data file, the detentions or detainers datasets. When the arrest entry referred to an obvious state landmark, such as the city of Casper in Wyoming, the reporters assigned the arrest to that state. When such an inference could not be made, the reporters removed the arrest from the dataset and did not include it in the analysis. In total, the analysis included 556 arrests from 2024 and 2,162 arrests in 2025 and discarded fewer than 100 arrests.
Some of those arrested had a criminal conviction listed in one of the datasets, but not in another. The Colorado Sun and WyoFile only counted criminal convictions in the arrest data, which UC Berkeley and other news organizations have determined is the most reliable dataset.
Given the need to infer certain information, this analysis may differ from analyses made by other newsrooms. For example, The New York Times reported that immigration arrests in Wyoming had doubled, not tripled. But The Colorado Sun and WyoFile’s analysis found more arrests attributable to the state than The Times did.
ICE officials declined to respond to questions about the data and The Colorado Sun and WyoFile’s analysis, even though the data was produced by their agency.
Reporters sent questions to Steve Kotecki, ICE’s spokesperson for the two-state region. Kotecki told reporters he forwarded that request to ICE’s national media office. Reporters then received a response from a generic ICE email account declining to verify the agency’s own data. ICE refused to provide a statement from a named official, and instead sent a brief, unsigned statement that echoed national talking points.
ICE’s response to WyoFile and The Colorado Sun’s request for information about local arrests reflects a growing effort by the agency to make its officials faceless and nameless in the public eye. ICE agents have worn masks during operations around the country and declined to share their names with the people they’re detaining and members of the public. Some attorneys prosecuting detained immigrants have reportedly sought anonymity.
ICE’s increased focus on immigrants with no criminal history comes as the administration attempts to reach its goal of 3,000 immigration arrests per day. The tactics have spurred protests across the country in recent months, including in cities in Colorado and Wyoming.
Colorado and Wyoming are very different politically and demographically. Colorado is run by a Democratic governor and legislature, while Wyoming is overseen by a Republican governor and legislature. Nearly 10% of Colorado residents are foreign-born while just 3.6% of Wyoming residents were born in other countries, according to the latest U.S. census figures.
The data shows the immigration crackdown in Colorado has been more aggressive than in Wyoming.
Immigration activists and attorneys told WyoFile and The Colorado Sun that in Wyoming the increase in arrests appears built on a system that relies on local law enforcement to alert ICE when officers detain immigrants suspected of committing local crimes. The high-profile, heavy-handed ICE raids and mass arrests seen in other states in the West have been rare.
A growing number of Wyoming sheriffs have signed agreements to facilitate cooperation with ICE. Such agreements would likely violate Colorado laws prohibiting significant cooperation between local law enforcement agencies and ICE. Activists say that even in Wyoming counties where there isn’t a more formal arrangement, deputies are now more likely to call ICE when they jail someone they suspect is unlawfully in the country. At the same time, ICE is more actively responding to sheriffs’ reports and is more likely to come pick up people from jails than they were under President Joe Biden’s administration.
“They’re here,” Bianca Infante, program director of the Cheyenne-based statewide immigration advocacy group Juntos, said, referring to the growing number of arrests. “The way they’re acting is more strategic, it’s less visible. But just because we’re not seeing it as much doesn’t mean that they’re not here.”
In Colorado and Wyoming, most people arrested by ICE during the first five months of the Trump administration had no criminal conviction, the data shows. That’s a reversal from the same time period in 2024, when most people arrested by ICE had been convicted of crimes, the data shows.
Of those who had criminal convictions when they were arrested this year, most were for nonviolent crimes, according to the FBI’s definition.
Among those arrested in Colorado and Wyoming are people whose convictions are decades old, although the dates are not always included. Three people arrested this year have convictions ICE says date from 1992 to 1999, and 10 people have convictions from 2000 to 2005.
Very few people in the data appear to have been deported to countries where they don’t have citizenship. But the list includes nine Venezuelan men arrested in Colorado since Jan. 20 who were sent to El Salvador on March 15. At least three other Venezuelan men arrested under the Biden administration were also sent to El Salvador that day, according to the arrest data.
The data does not include names. But the departure date indicates these men may be part of the group of nearly 300 people the Trump administration deported to the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, in El Salvador. They were deported without an opportunity to challenge the federal government’s allegations that they are gang members, according to lawsuits filed over the CECOT imprisonments.
None of the men from Colorado, who range in age from about 22 to 35, had criminal convictions when they were arrested by ICE, according to the data. One had an aggravated assault conviction associated with his ICE detention file. El Salvador released the men to Venezuela in a prisoner swap Friday.
Republicans in Congress voted earlier this month to increase ICE’s annual budget from $8 billion to about $28 billion, making it the highest funded law enforcement agency in the country.
The cash infusion will continue to increase arrests, detentions and deportations, said Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. And, she said, more of those arrested, detained and deported are likely to be people whose only offense is entering the country illegally.
“If they want to keep up the pace of arrests they’ve been conducting,” she said. “They’ll have to widen their gaze beyond people with criminal convictions.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, July 18 to including news that Venezuelans deported by the United States to El Salvador were sent to Venezuela in a prisoner swap.
Methodology
This story is based on data from the Deportation Data Center at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
Here’s how we performed the analysis:
- Saved the tables as comma separated value (CSV) files.
- Imported them into a Jupyter notebook using the Python library Pandas.
- Narrowed the tables to data that included the Denver area of responsibility, Colorado or Wyoming.
- In the case of detention data, a list of detention facilities in Colorado and Wyoming were used.
- Using unique identifiers to match with detention data, added the most serious conviction charge to the arrest data.
- Using unique identifiers to match with detainer data, added conviction dates and additional state data to the arrest data.
- Narrowed the arrest data to the time frame of Jan. 20 to June 26 for both 2024 and 2025.
- Removed 41 records where the state could not be determined.
- Removed 28 duplicate records. Some duplicates in which individuals were arrested in both 2024 and 2025 remain in the data.
- Removed 25 records that appear to have come from other states.
- Used Excel pivot tables to analyze the remaining 2,718 records.
Some arrested people who were designated as having pending criminal charges at the time of their arrest had a conviction associated with them in the detention dataset. The Colorado Sun and WyoFile included those people, 17 in total, as having pending charges, so it is possible that our total number of convicted arrestees is an undercount.
It is worth noting that there is no way to gauge the accuracy of this data. For instance, three of the records removed listed locations in Colorado or Wyoming, but apprehension states of Florida and Utah.WyoFile and The Colorado Sun are publishing a spreadsheet containing the data analyzed here.
If they are here illegally they are criminals and should be deported. I don’t blame the people so much as our messed up immigration policy. But until it’s corrected you must obey the law.
“Who will clean our toilets?” is becoming a familiar and racist liberal complaint.
What part of illegal alien is not criminal? Doesn’t matter if they committed any other crimes or not they are criminals.
As a proud hispanic and natural born American citizen, I love immigrants, having worked with them in the oil fields of Wyoming my entire adult life. Most are honorable hard working people, but from my personal experience there are some dangerous and violent individuals amongst them. America is a sovereign country with immigration laws and we want immigrants who enter legally and who have been adequately vetted. The consequences of illegally entering the U.S is deportation, because we have no idea who they are or their background. The irrelevant talking point of illegal entry due to it only being a civil violation doesn’t negate the legal consequences of deportation. Even traffic violations have legal consequences. America can not be an open door to unknown individuals who have potential to harm American citizens of all ethnicities
Being in the country without legal authorization is a violation of the law and violating the law makes one a criminal subject to arrest and deportation. Name one country on earth where this is not the case
It is a civil not a criminal offense. The convicted felon you so gleefully voted for now treats the people who pick your crops, build your buildings, take care of your grandparents in nursing homes, drive your Ubers, clean the stalls at your stables, and work in your meat processing plants like animals. He puts them in cages in American concentration camps or sends them to hellholes in third world countries. He encourages the brutes who he is hiring at ICE to terrorize them at night. And all because these folks want to be here to start a new life like your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, or someone on your family tree did 250 years ago. Where is your humanity?
Every illegal immigrant knows how to game the immigration system and they have been doing it quite well for decades. Often with the government’s blessing and assistance (local, state and federal). When the government’s aiding and abetting them (and businesses), it’s hard to blame the immigrants for coming here. I would. All make a mockery of our borders and laws.
The business community loves the cheap labor, and the new customers. The liberals love the idea of being social justice warriors for immigrants, usually while harming the interests of working-class Americans.
Immigrants often drive up housing cost for the poorest of Americans and sometimes more affluent ones. They also drive down wages for the industries that they work in and even those they don’t. This also applies to visa workers here legally – the majority are paid below prevailing wages, and the visa program is used to keep a lid on wage growth. The laws of supply and demand apply to all.
According to the Pew, “69% of Americans said they were “very concerned” about the cost of housing”.
Over the last 40+ years of unchecked immigration of all kinds, there has been an inverse relationship between the supply of housing, especially affordable housing, and the number of immigrants entering our country. They contribute to the housing crisis. It’s the biggest expense most American face. This is especially true in urban areas like New York City and Los Angeles. NYC just voted for a 33-Year-Old Socialist due to their housing crisis (also an immigrant). He won’t fix it, especially if we’re bringing in millions of immigrants every year.
The housing crisis isn’t limited to big cities. It also applies to housing in places like Jackson, where it’s almost impossible for US citizens to find housing, but not for the thousands of immigrants. Immigrants allowed Jackson to NOT build real housing for American workers while also keeping a lid on wage growth – making housing even more unaffordable.
Many immigrants commit identity fraud to gain employment. Many work under the table. This harms Americans. Many get all forms of public and private social services. Those are resources are directed away from Americans.
California spent 9 billion providing medical care to illegals. And the influx of immigrants during the Biden administration cost states at least 9 billion. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The majority are highly uneducated upon arrival and their kids often pay an educational price for not knowing English out of the gate and having poorly educated parents. Jackson’s record on educating their Latino population fell short for decades despite spending millions of dollars trying to improve performance and having one of the best bilingual programs in the state.
Nonetheless, the problem isn’t the illegal immigrants. They’re doing what all immigrants are doing. It’s the government’s failure on many fronts including housing, border security, outflow of visa workers, and the incentives it, and the business community, provided to illegal immigrants.
Many Americans would like to head Canada and live there. They would probably be kicked out in a hurry if they weren’t there legally and none would be surprised nor bothered by Canada’s actions.
The one thing that all illegal immigrants know is that they broke that law. And being deported is often the penalty for breaking our immigration laws. They played the game on their own terms and got off Scott Free for decades.
My advice to them, and their supporters, is to take their kids out of school and not go to work. The economic power is in their hands. Cesar Chavez and MLK knew this. Use it or lose it.
Thank you for the data on ICE arrests. ICE as agents of the evil one who sits in Washington speak volumes of racism directed at “people” who provide this country with food. Period. When will this xenophobia cease?
This is Christianity in America we voted for this, your ignorant if you don’t think there won’t be repercussions. Be proud standing before god with your Trump flags.
Funny when these articles are written the reporters always seem to ignore the fact that if you enter the United States illegally that is a criminal offense. So you are a criminal. Same as if we were to go to Mexico or even France illegally. And yes, both countries would arrest and deport us!
All of you who are for masked men snatching people, immigrants and sending them “away” to protect citizens who fear them—- hum, you do realize that if you are not a Native American, YOU are an Immigrant!!! Hello in there. Wake up.
I was born here making me a native American
I think a lot of people believe that these people need to be deported. Even if they haven’t committed crimes. If they are here illegally, then they need to go. You have no rights if you’re not a citizen. These other countries would do much worse to US citizens I’m sure. Trump was elected to get illegals out of the country and stop the bleeding so to speak at the border.
Martin, these “criminals” are guilty of MISDEMEANORS; that is what illegal entry is. That’s the equivalent of jaywalking. The ICE budget just approved by Congress and the president is LARGER than the military budgets of every country in the WORLD with the exception of the top 10 nations. They are not arresting he “worst of the worst” because they have a quota of 3000 per month–and the “bad guys” are usually better at avoiding detection that everyday folks. Worse, the head of Homeland Security has declared that NONE of the detainees are eligible for bond. This is usually up to a judge to determine, but since these folks aren’t being taken to court, well….. A complete violation of criminal law. Expect major lawsuits of agencies and individuals once the White House POS leaves office.
Let’s face it: Trump and his administration are dead-set on doing everything they can to make this a whites-only nation controlled by white men, the rule of law, due process, and our democratic traditions be damned.
I like that while they may not be hardcore criminals. They broke the law when they entered illegally. If I walk through the door without permission I am trespassing. Subject to prosecution
Some of these comments are flat hilarious. The SS oh my! Hitler oh my! Authoritarian oh my! Those making those comparisons need to spend some time in Iran. Illegal means broke the law… This needed to be done years ago. Keep up the good work ICE and now that we have the border controlled let’s go after the cartels and human traffickers no matter where they are.
Typical liberals. What part of illegal do you not understand?
I enjoy reading the wyofile just to understand how uneducated the left is.
There is definitely no bias reporting here!
Now Martin, you know Berkeley is a bastion of objectivity.
Just because someone has a different opinion that you does not make them uneducated. To lack tolerance of others is truly a sign of an uneducated individual.
Democrats need a permanent underclass they can patronize.
I am 100% for LEGAL immigration. Prioritize those who want to come, assimilate and stay permanently.
Deport any who wave a flag of any foreign nation immediately, especially if they are protesting our laws.
The ICE agents actions are more like the Gestapo and the SS of Nazi Germany.
If people are here illegally, they still deserve respect, due and a reasonable way to get back to their country. We need to put money into ways that they can come legal. Not throw them in the back of a truck and put them in jail.
Legal deportation has been in this country for a long long time. But abusive deportation is a Trump and Stephen Miller concept. Oh, let’s not forget the dog killer. Those three make quite a team.
For all you, trumpers out there by all means vote for a real republican. Trump is not a Republican. We need a leader, not a dictator. Trump is not a Republican he is power hungry mad man and is destroying our way of life.
Funny we forget that President Obama “housed” and separated families as well. I am for fair treatment, but we only want to point out flaws of the current administration. We need to enforce the laws we have, if you’re here illegally, go home. But I’m sure you’d like to give them bus fare and a sandwich too, which someone else has to pay for. Why should we have to foot the bill? We didn’t ask them over.
Really? They’re being hauled of to camps where they’re put in gas chambers or used as slave labor or medical experiments? Seems you had poor history teachers in school and failed to educate yourself on WW2 and the Nazis. Maybe you should go to another country and enter it illegally and see what happens. Ask Salvadorians what happens if they are caught illegally in Mexico. I’ll give you a hint, they’re not getting 3 hots and a cot and then deported.
If a foreign national is in this country illegally; they have no right to be here…period. The USA has the right and duty to deport them; preferably back to their home countries; but also to any country willing to take them.
Trump is right to target the worst-of-the-worst first; but efficient use of resources includes arresting so-called non-criminal illegal aliens when they are encountered. Otherwise, ICE has to track them down later.
I highly doubt ICE field agents enjoy wearing masks, especially during the hot months. But given the increased violence against them, along with doxxing that puts agents at risk during their off-duty hours, along with their families; wearing masks is prudent. The mask loving Left sure enjoyed brow-beating people to wear masks during Covid; nor do they complain about mask wearing Hamas/Hezbollah supporters harassing Israel advocates.
The article acts like DUI, assault (including sexual), battery, robbery, drug possession (I suspect with intent to distribute) are no big deal. They are a big deal to the victims, yet criminals are the heroes to the Left.
Yes, employers willing hiring known illegal aliens need to be criminally and civilly held accountable. E-Verify needs to be implemented, and politicians of both parties that have benefited from this mess need to be voted out of office.
A commenter below housing/sponsoring Venezuelans here illegally appears to equate ‘parole’ with ‘pardon.’ Parole in criminal cases can be revoked/denied for a variety of reasons. A pardon is a power granted to the executive of a country or state to be used sparingly with judicious wisdom.
I would like to see SCOTUS weigh in whether ‘sanctuary states’ like Colorado are violating the ‘Federal Supremacy Clause’ of the Constitution when these states pass laws preventing state and local law enforcement cooperating with ICE, et al.
100% nailed it.
Isn’t being an illegal immigrant against the law?
Thank you, Mr. Graham and WyoFile, for this excellent reporting and clear analysis of the data.
I hope that all citizens and Wyomingites will make the effort to educate themselves and think hard about our constitution, our values, and our society before blindly supporting an anti-democratic, supremacist, authoritarian regime.
https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/document/FINAL_criminalizing_undocumented_immigrants_issue_brief_PUBLIC_VERSION.pdf
And: Unlawful Presence Is Not a Crime (from findlaw.com)
Some may assume that all immigrants who are in the United States without legal status must have committed improper entry. This simply isn’t the case. Many foreign nationals legally enter the country on a valid work or travel visa, but fail to exit before their visa expires for a variety of reasons.
But mere unlawful presence in the country is not a crime. It is a violation of federal immigration law to remain in the country without legal authorization, but this violation is punishable by civil penalties, not criminal. Chief among these civil penalties is deportation or removal, where an unlawful resident may be detained and removed from the country. Unlawful presence can also have negative consequences for a resident who may seek to gain re-entry into the United States, or permanent residency.
Both improper entry and unlawful presence should be avoided by any immigrant to the United States, but an illegal alien cannot be criminally charged or incarcerated simply for being undocumented.
This all begs the question as to how much of the 18 billion will be handed over to CoreCivic, Geo Corporation et al. These are our tax dollars, so what measures are in place to guard against profit motive induced abuses by these corporations? Lots of stories out there about how people are being kept much longer than necessary. And there is obviously zero incentive to provide decent food, bedding, etc.
Make it nearly impossible to gain citizenship without huge amounts of money invested in the effort and the intervention of politically connected persons to push your reams of paper work through. Deport all who fail to third world gulags. Deploy masked gestapo to round up farm workers and day laborers. That my friends will make America great again! Take a look at 1938 Germany if you believe that crap.
What nobody is questioning is who is going to do the work that those getting imprisoned and deported did? I am in a Colorado Mountain town where ICE , as far as I know, is too busy elsewhere to round up our migrants who might have a drunk driving citation. . But the entire tourist industry will fall apart if the good people who are doing it’s labor get deported..nMy grandparents were immigrants from Eastern Europe . My father became internationally known in his field.
The Venezuelan family living with me was here legally until the new administration revoked their parole. Now they are here “unlawfully”. and were told to self deport immediately. They had a meeting with ICE in Cheyenne in June, and they were not detained. They check in via an app each week. ICE knows exactly where they are. We live each day in fear, but just take it one day at a time. Life here is still better than it was, even with no legal status and no work permits (denied because Homeland Security revoked their parole.) Our country wants to criminalize the refugee, the poor, and those without a country to call home. It is hard to not be a criminal in the eyes of our government if you have brown skin and speak Spanish.
This is what we voted for! I applaud Wyo and those Law Enforcement Agencies that are working with ICE. A big deal is made in this article about convictions yet doesn’t say much about all those pending charges. Why is that?
I have no problem with ICE arresting them at hearings. 3000 is not enough if you ask me. Come here legally. Go to Mexico and try this and you will be sitting in a prison. Not just Mexico but other places. No other country allows this, we should the USA?
If they are being arrested at their immigration hearing they are trying to do it legally.
The family I am housing came here “undocumented” but went through the system and entered “on parole”, legally. They have broken no laws, but are now here illegally and are under threat of deportation. Our government and many people in the great state of Wyoming just want them to leave. It has nothing to do with criminality. Did you read the entire article? Did you look at the data? Have you ever personally experienced a threat from an immigrant? Or did you just hear about it on Fox News?
“No other country allows this, we (sic) should the USA?” Jim, you are wrong. Administrations in many counties take in refugees and migrants fleeing unstable, violent homelands. Some then reverse policy. Take Iran. It has 4 – 6 million displaced people, many from Afghanistan. Since January this year, the Iranian regime decided on a crackdown, and expelled an estimated 1.4 million. 20,000 a day now cross back into Afghanistan. It is analogous to our current administration’s withdrawal of protected status from Haitians, Venezuelans and others. I used to think the US, a nominally Christian country, was better than this. It appears not.
I concur.
Thank you, WyoFile, for running this story. There is an important point in the piece about ICE not responding locally, and referring journalists to the national office, which then provides anonymous, empty responses. It is like those facemasks worn by ICE employees, along with civilian dress and slob caps worn backwards. Tne purpose is to intimidate the general public. Don’t assume the messaging is intended for work migrants and refugees alone, who are our neighbots, friends and workmates.
All standard authoritarian fare. It ain’t normal.
Wyo File is dropping into the same old misinformation pushers as the Main stream Media with their headline on this article! The idea is that ICE DID arrest some that had criminal history, and the others were with them, and they have broken the law by entering this country illegally, so ALL are subject to deportation. To infer otherwise is being untruthful in your reporting, because you are not giving all the facts that apply! That is precisely the reason that I won’t donate any money to your coffers, because you don’t tell the WHOLE STORY, truthfully!
If you are an illegal alien, you are a criminal.
Life in an increasingly authoritarian country…it’s past time for people to awaken to that reality. Will we?
The General Synod of the United Church of Christ recently condemned the Trump administration’s anti immigrant actions as “domestic terrorism.” I myself think the term “state-sponsored terrorism” would be more accurate.
Other than entering the country illegally. Obviously. You didn’t even pretend you can explain why that doesn’t count.
And of course, no conviction doesn’t mean no crimes. Again, obviously.
Here’s why it shouldn’t count. Historically, Democrats and Republicans turned a blind eye to immigration because they wanted cheap labor. Basically, it was an open invitation to come to America. Why aren’t the people that hired them criminals? Because they wanted them here, obviously.
They ARE criminals. Press charges now. JMO.