BRIEF: ICE Arrests Among AAPI Californians Increased Tenfold in 2025
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests increased dramatically in California during 2025, the first year of the second Trump administration, with particularly sharp increases among AAPI communities. While overall ICE arrests in the state increased by 386% between 2024 and 2025, arrests of individuals with citizenship from Asian or Pacific Island countries and territories increased by 1,109%, raising the share of AAPI arrests from 4% to 11%. The data also show important shifts in who is being targeted, including increases in arrests of women, children, and individuals with no criminal record, challenging claims that expanded enforcement efforts are focused primarily on people with criminal histories.
Available on ERI’s California Immigrant Data Portal, the fact sheet contains more information on trends in ICE arrests among AAPI communities in California, including changes in demographics, countries of origin, and criminal record status.
About the authors:
Sabrina Kim is a Senior Data Analyst at ERI. Passionate about data visualization, Sabrina focuses on making data related to social justice and immigrant inclusion more accessible, contributing to projects such as the California Immigrant Data Portal. She also oversees the design of reports and factsheets, translating complex data into impactful visual narratives.
Joanna Lee is a Senior Project Manager at ERI leading the team that created and maintains the California Immigrant Data Portal. With nearly two decades of experience, Joanna conducts research as a community-based researcher in census, redistricting, voting rights, movement building, gentrification in Asian American ethnic enclaves, and demography including disaggregated data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders.
Clara Alvarez Caraveo is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University of Southern California and is a graduate research assistant at ERI. Clara’s research interests include immigration, policy, healthcare access, and welfare reform. Her current work focuses on access to the social safety net among immigrant and mixed-status families.
The California Immigrant Data Portal is a signature research project of the USC Equity Research Institute.