While Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago have drawn fierce protests and extensive media coverage, immigration raids in Houston have quietly resulted in large numbers of arrests, according to data obtained by NBC News.
ICE agents arrested more than 1,500 people in Houston over a 10-day stretch in October, according to its field office director, Bret Bradford. While it received less attention than other raids across the country, it resulted in a higher number of arrests per day on average.
A six-week ICE operation in Washington, D.C., from early August to late September resulted in 1,400 arrests. A seven-week operation in Chicago involving ICE and Border Patrol has led to the arrests of 3,800 immigrants since mid-September. And a 12-week operation in Los Angeles over the summer resulted in the arrest of 5,000 immigrants, according to DHS.
The Trump administration has largely targeted sanctuary cities for large-scale immigration raids. Though Houston is run by a Democratic mayor, it is not a sanctuary city due to a 2017 state law that bans cities in Texas from passing policies that limit local police interaction with ICE.
The ICE action in Houston last month followed 10-day operations in February and August that resulted in 543 arrests and 822 arrests, respectively, Bradford said.