'No One Is Off the Table': DHS Denies ICE Arrest Pullback and Announces Sanctuary-City Surge

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied reports of an ICE arrest pullback over the weekend, while announcing a nationwide enforcement surge in US sanctuary cities. It said officers would continue arresting people in the country illegally, including those without criminal convictions or charges.

The announcement followed a report that ICE officers across the US had been told to restrict arrests over the weekend. DHS rejected the account, saying, 'No one is off the table.' The reported restrictions also covered collateral arrests, when officers detain others encountered alongside their intended target.

DHS Rejects Arrest Restrictions

Reporter Jennie Taer wrote on X that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers nationwide had been instructed over the weekend to arrest only immigrants in the country illegally with criminal convictions or charges. She cited agency sources, who described the restriction as temporary.

Her sources also said the instruction ended so-called collateral arrests. That would mean officers pursuing a criminal target could detain only that person, even if they encountered others who were also in the country illegally.

DHS rejected Taer's account. 'This is false,' it said. 'We will continue to arrest any and all illegal aliens that come into our path. Anyone in our country illegally will be arrested and deported.'

It presented the surge as a public safety measure intended to protect American citizens. The department said the operation targeted immigrants in the country illegally, including murderers, rapists, child predators and gang members. It accused sanctuary politicians of releasing many of those people from jails.

Sanctuary jurisdictions limit cooperation between local police and federal immigration officers. The jurisdictions singled out by DHS included California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, DC, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.

DHS Enforcement Under Scrutiny

The wider crackdown has also involved people whose immigration circumstances are disputed. Oswaldo Pirela, a minor-league catching coordinator for the San Diego Padres, was detained at an El Paso airport while travelling for work.

His family challenged DHS's account of his immigration status. He was released on bond in August and reunited with his family, although removal proceedings remain pending, according to the Associated Press.

Sister Leticia Ugboaja was detained while walking to Mass in McAllen despite having protection from removal to Nigeria. She was released shortly afterwards.

NewsNation reported that federal immigration agents had shot at least 20 people since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Seven died. The shootings have also fuelled protests and renewed demands for greater transparency and accountability over federal agents' use of force.

In Austin, Texas, an ICE officer shot and wounded Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan man making DoorDash deliveries from his car.

He was discharged from hospital within hours and transferred to ICE custody with a bullet still lodged in his back. He was later returned to hospital for treatment after experiencing paralysis on his left side before being sent back to detention, according to his lawyer.

Texas congressman Joaquin Castro said in a 23 September statement, 'ICE's treatment of Wilber amounts to torture.' He alleged that Garcés Pérez had received almost no medical care despite severe pain and loss of movement on his left side.

Castro said Garcés Pérez should be in hospital instead of being held in isolation at the South Texas Immigration Processing Center.