Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs The nation’s top immigration enforcement agency reportedly detained several legal immigrants as it conducted sweeping raids under President Donald Trump’s hard-line mass deportation policy.Reports have emerged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained an 18-year-old girl, a military veteran and a man who has worked in the U.S. for 30 years.Newsweek contacted ICE for comment via email outside normal office hours.Why It MattersMass deportations were a central focus of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Since his return to office on January 20, his administration has arrested thousands of undocumented immigrants as part of a widespread crackdown, which critics say is spreading fear in vulnerable communities.The president has expanded ICE’s authority, allowing immigration raids in schools, hospitals and places of worship. Opponents argue that these actions may violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and could lead to legal challenges.Americans largely support immigration reform overall but disagree about how policies such as deportations should be carried out. A poll conducted by The New York Times and Ipsos from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported Trump’s immigration plans. Eighty-eight percent supported “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.” Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agree that the immigration system is broken.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers restraining a detained person using handcuffs in Silver Spring, Maryland, on January 27.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers restraining a detained person using handcuffs in Silver Spring, Maryland, on January 27.
Alex Brandon/AP
What To KnowEighteen-year-old Zeneyda Barrera Hernandez, an asylum applicant from Massachusetts, has been detained and is being held at the Cumberland County Jail in Maine at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, her former attorney told the Portland Press Herald.Barrera Hernandez, a resident of Lynn, Massachusetts, was being held by federal authorities without bail, according to the jail’s booking records.Patrick Callahan, who briefly served as the teen’s attorney, said she was taken into custody by immigration officers in Massachusetts on Monday and transferred out of state, despite her legal status in the U.S.”She’s a young girl who’s a student, who works, never been in any trouble before,” Callahan told the Press Herald. “Her mother and her brother are really just torn to pieces over this.”According to Callahan, Lynn Police officers arrested the woman early on Monday after she allegedly got into a fight with her 12-year-old brother over a cellphone. When the officers arrived, the boy said he had not been injured, and the officers found no visible injuries. Still, they proceeded with the arrest.Barrera Hernandez and her family came to the United States from Nicaragua more than a year ago, according to the Press Herald.The police released Barrera Hernandez around 11:30 a.m. on Monday, but ICE agents were waiting for her in the lockup, the Press Herald reported.In another incident, a legal migrant in Ohio who had been working in the U.S. for 30 years was detained by immigration enforcement authorities on Tuesday, WBNS 10TV reported.Newsweek spoke with the man’s immigration lawyer, Inna Simakovsky, who confirmed that he was present in the United States legally. She said her client, who was originally from Mexico, had a derivative U visa.In a phone call to Newsweek, she said: “The issue with our U visas is Congress has mandated only 10,000 U visas be issued every year. But this family filed their U visa in 2018.”She continued: “We’re now in 2025 and they still don’t have a U visa, but they have what’s called deferred action, which is very similar to DACA deferred action where you can work legally, you can live legally, you are not supposed to be in deportation … You have legal status.”Earlier this month, ICE detained a military veteran in Newark, New Jersey, while conducting a raid.An ICE spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement at the time: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual’s identity as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a worksite today in Newark, New Jersey. This is an active investigation and, per ICE policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations.”Ras J. Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, said ICE raided a local business and detained “undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant.”He added that a U.S. military veteran was among the people detained and that he “suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned.”On X, formerly Twitter, ICE announced that it made 1,016 arrests and lodged 814 detainers on Thursday.Since Trump returned to office, ICE and the White House have released daily reports on the number of immigrants arrested or placed under immigration detainers—figures that differ from the number of deportations.What People Are SayingPatrick Callahan, who briefly served as an attorney for Zeneyda Barrera Hernandez, told the Portland Press Herald: “I didn’t even get a chance to speak to her before she was taken away. I was not aware that ICE was in the building looking for her until they had already taken her.”White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing on Tuesday: “To foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the United States—think again. Under this president, you will be detained and you will be deported. Every day Americans are safer because of the violent criminals that President Trump’s administration is removing from our communities.”What Happens NextThe Trump administration is poised to continue its hard-line immigration crackdown, making further raids and arrests likely.
