How do Ice procedures in 2026 differ from obama era
Executive summary
ICE in 2026 operates with far larger budgets, staffing, and a broader use of surveillance and aggressive interior-enforcement tactics than during much of the Obama years, while critics say the agency has moved away from the Obama-era emphasis on targeted criminal removals toward mass arrests and deterrence; supporters argue the expansion restores law-and-order priorities and addresses public-safety concerns [1] [2] [3]. Both camps point to different metrics — numbers detained and removed, funding levels, and the equipment and authorities deployed — as evidence, and reporting documents sharp increases in arrests, detainees, deaths in custody, and new surveillance purchases in 2025–26 compared with the Obama-era posture [2] [1] [4] [5].
1. Bigger budgets, more agents, and heavier operational tempo
By 2025–26 ICE and the broader DHS enforcement apparatus have grown substantially in personnel and funding compared with the Obama years: reporting shows ICE’s budget ballooned into the tens of billions for 2025 and that the Trump administration reported hiring thousands of agents and boosting force size, with ICE and partner agencies conducting arrests at rates far above mid-2010s levels [1] [3] [2]. Migration Policy and other outlets document daily arrest and detention figures that rose to levels not seen since — or exceeding — the Obama-era peaks, with ICE detainee populations jumping from averages in the tens of thousands during Obama to roughly double by early 2026 [2].
2. From prioritized removals to broader interior raids and mass arrests
A defining procedural shift is emphasis: Obama-era ICE formally prioritized criminally noncitizen removals and used prosecutorial discretion to narrow interior enforcement, whereas 2025–26 operations emphasize broad interior enforcement and higher aggregate arrest targets, producing large-scale raids and daily arrest tallies that critics say mirror a “mass deportation” approach [6] [2]. Former Obama ICE officials cited in contemporary reporting argue that the Trump administration’s obsession with arrest numbers undermines public-safety-focused targeting that characterized much of the Obama period [6].
3. More surveillance procurement and data-driven targeting
ICE in 2026 is procuring expansive surveillance tools and buying privacy-rich data integrations at scale, according to civil-liberties reporting that documents Palantir-style matching of government datasets and a dramatic planned rise in surveillance spending compared with prior years; advocates warn that this creates a far more pervasive domestic surveillance capability than existed during the Obama era, even while some historical expansions of ICE’s size began under Obama [5]. The Electronic Frontier Foundation highlights both continuity (earlier expansions) and acceleration (2025 shopping spree) in surveillance capacity [5].
4. Tactics, optics, and community impacts: masked raids, unmarked vehicles, and public backlash
Contemporary accounts describe more militarized field tactics — masked agents, unmarked vehicles, armed team deployments — and high-profile incidents including deaths in custody and shootings that have intensified public protests and political backlash in 2025–26; reporting notes at least several deaths and heightened concerns about overcrowding in detention facilities that prompted calls for unannounced inspections by lawmakers [1] [4]. Supporters inside DHS frame these actions as restoring deterrence and removing “the worst of the worst,” language echoed in DHS materials, while critics and some former officials describe intimidation and mission creep beyond traditional public-safety enforcement [3] [7].
5. Legal tools and local partnerships: detainers, 287(g), and shifting cooperation
Procedurally, the use of detainers and expansion of local-federal partnerships has waxed and waned across administrations; recent analyses show detainer use rose prior to and then accelerated after the 2024–25 transition, and new 287(g) and local agreements proliferated under the later administration — a reversal of some of the restraint seen in parts of the Obama era — even as debates continue about legality and local-government cooperation [8] [9] [2]. Observers from immigration-rights groups and some legal scholars argue these shifts reduce safeguards that existed when ICE concentrated on serious criminals; DHS officials emphasize enforcement reach and public-safety outcomes [2] [10].
6. Where reporting diverges and what remains unclear
Sources agree on major trends — larger budgets, more arrests, intensified tactics — but diverge on framing: DHS and allied outlets portray restoration of border and interior security, while investigative and civil-rights reporting highlights human-rights concerns, rising deaths in custody, and civil-liberties risks from surveillance buys [3] [1] [5] [4]. Available reporting documents operational changes and consequences through early 2026, but does not settle long-term legal outcomes, internal policy orders, or the full quantitative breakdown of cases by criminality versus civil immigration status; those specifics were not fully public in the materials reviewed [2] [5].