ICE arrests of Asian and Pacific Islanders have nearly quadrupled under Trump, new report finds

President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies are exacting a quantifiable toll on Asian and Pacific Islander (A/PI) communities regardless of citizenship status, a new report reveals.

By the numbers: In their latest “Keeping Count” report, Stop AAPI Hate analyzed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data and found that arrests of people from A/PI countries jumped from 1,998 in January-October 2024 to 7,752 in the same window in 2025, nearly four times the total under former President Joe Biden.

The organization also commissioned a survey with NORC at the University of Chicago in January. Fifty-three percent of respondents said immigration enforcement or anti-immigrant sentiment had affected them or someone they know. Of those affected, 45% reported a diminished sense of security, 39% withdrew from public life and 24% faced economic or educational setbacks. Respondents who felt the impact were also 1.9 times more likely to report moderate or severe anxiety and depression.

Why this matters: Tracking immigration enforcement data is critical, because without it, the full scope of harm to A/PI communities would likely remain hidden from policymakers and the public. One of the report’s most striking findings, as we have seen in our own immigration coverage, is that citizenship offers little protection. As per Stop AAPI Hate, both those with legal status and those without reported being affected at virtually the same rate (53% versus 55%).

With the Supreme Court greenlighting ICE’s racial profiling, it’s easy to see this as the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype at play. The fear generated by enforcement policies is not limited to those with uncertain immigration status, but spreads through entire communities.

The big picture: The breadth of the administration’s actions helps explain how far the damage has reached. Travel restrictions now target nationals from more than a dozen A/PI countries, and Temporary Protected Status has been revoked for Afghan, Burmese and Nepalese immigrants. ICE operations, meanwhile, have expanded into schools, hospitals and houses of worship.

The effects, however, may prove just as lasting as the policies themselves. The withdrawal of nearly four in 10 A/PI adults from civic, social and public life means communities are losing political voice at the moment they can least afford to. The problem is compounded by the administration’s inflammatory rhetoric reminiscent of Trump’s references during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, racialized language from the White House contributed to a measurable surge in anti-Asian violence.

Despite such challenges, Stop AAPI Hate reports that 67% of A/PI adults are motivated to protect immigrant communities.