Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has conducted immigration raids in various forms since the agency was created in 2003, but large, highly publicized “ICE raids” as people talk about them today ramped up in the mid‑2000s and then again under both Trump administrations.

Quick Scoop: When did ICE raids start?

  • ICE was created in March 2003 as part of the new Department of Homeland Security, replacing parts of the old INS and Customs.
  • Workplace and community immigration raids began under ICE shortly after its creation, with notable large-scale operations appearing by the mid‑2000s (for example, high‑profile factory and meatpacking plant raids).
  • The phrase “ICE raids” became widely used in media and online discussions during the first Trump administration (2017–2021), when interior immigration enforcement was made a central policy priority and large, coordinated operations were announced in advance.
  • Under Donald Trump’s second presidency (starting January 2025), high‑profile ICE raids resumed almost immediately, with large coordinated actions reported in multiple major cities by late January 2025.
  • By early 2026, rights groups and legal organizations were describing a sharp escalation in the frequency and aggressiveness of raids nationwide, including daily arrest quotas and broader targeting beyond people with criminal convictions.

A bit of historical context

Before ICE existed, federal agents also carried out immigration raids under earlier agencies like the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and even earlier “Red Scare”–era crackdowns such as the Palmer Raids in 1919–1920 targeted immigrants and political radicals for arrest and deportation. So while “ICE raids” specifically could only start after 2003, the broader practice of immigration raids in the U.S. goes back more than a century.

What “ICE raids” usually mean today

When people online ask “when did ICE raids start,” they are usually referring to:

  1. The modern ICE era (post‑2003)
    • Start point: creation of ICE in 2003 and the first waves of workplace and community raids in the years immediately after.
  1. The big, headline‑grabbing sweeps
    • Mid‑2000s: high‑visibility workplace raids brought the term “ICE raid” into broader public awareness.
 * 2017 onward: renewed focus and branding of large operations during the first Trump term.

 * 2025–2026: mass operations and protests tied to Trump’s second term and explicit arrest‑quota directives.

Recent and “latest news” angle

  • January 2025: large, coordinated ICE actions in cities like Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., detaining hundreds in a single day; this wave is often cited as the kickoff of the current phase of raids under Trump’s second term.
  • 2025–2026: Advocacy groups report “brutal” enforcement actions and raids, saying ICE and CBP are now working under internal targets of thousands of arrests per day and often picking up people without criminal convictions.
  • Media explainers and podcasts released in 2024–2026 describe how raids are planned, who is typically targeted, and how tactics have become more forceful over time, reflecting growing public concern and sustained online discussion.

Mini FAQ

So what’s the simplest answer to “when did ICE raids start”?

  • If you mean any ICE raids: soon after ICE was formed in 2003.
  • If you mean the high‑profile , heavily publicized ICE raids people argue about on social media: mid‑2000s, with major expansions during and after Trump’s first term, and a new intensified wave starting January 2025.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.