Letters to the Editor: As ICE arrests ramp up again, the public deserves far more information

To the editor: A little more than a year ago, President Trump’s homeland security advisor, Stephen Miller, stated that he had a goal of 3,000 arrests by immigration agents per day. Now, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that almost 50,000 people were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in July, raising several questions in my mind (“ICE arrests jumped to nearly 50,000 in July, the highest monthly total of Trump’s second term,” Aug. 25).

What percentage of these arrests involved children? How many of those arrested have been deported as of today and to which countries? By state, where are those still in custody being held? What is the monthly cost of housing an adult? Likewise, a child? What is the average length of stay in detention? What percentage of detainees had prior criminal convictions? How many detainees have been released without further action? How many have appeared before an immigration judge while in custody?

The American public needs answers to these and other questions. Investigative journalists should be pursuing this information.

Noel Johnson, Glendale

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To the editor: While pursuing his immigration crackdown, Trump promised that ICE would find and deport only “the worst of the worst.” Now we read stories of families torn apart when a law-abiding young resident or aging grandparent is hunted down in frightening detail.

Now, a Times headline informs us that ICE arrests jumped to nearly 50,000 in July. If Trump believes arresting (and potentially deporting) 50,000 people each month is removing “the worst of the worst,” then he has a distorted picture of our wonderful country.

Ted Bacino, Palm Springs

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To the editor: I have a lot of reactions when I read the paper. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I’m angry, sometimes I’m curious. But until now, I have never been so emotionally affected by a story that I actually cried.

My heart goes out to the six people who refused to get off the plane in Liberia, were apparently told they were being taken back to the U.S. and found themselves in Equatorial Guinea, where they would be sequestered in a hotel with poor conditions (“Deportees who refused to exit a U.S. flight in Liberia are sent to Equatorial Guinea,” Aug. 24). I am haunted by the thought of the man with a colostomy bag sent into that situation. I am also ashamed and infuriated to think that some of my tax dollars are paying for this.

Rose Leibowitz, Studio City

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To the editor: The plight of U.S. Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez is yet another sickening and beyond absurd story caused by Trump’s rampage against migrants who have not perfected their legal status to remain in the country (“Wife of active-duty Army sergeant is deported to Honduras under Trump’s immigration crackdown,” Aug. 25). Turcios Juarez, with his wife deported to Honduras, must now honor his military obligation while caring alone for their 6-year-old daughter.

In the country for 10 years with no criminal record, Cristy Maryori Villafranca-Trejo was apparently not notified of a removal hearing in 2017, and the couple only found out about her deportation order after marrying in 2022. Seeking available remedies and hoping to stay with her husband and daughter (both citizens), she was scooped up and sent back to Honduras.

The pain and suffering caused to a law-abiding family far outweighs any logical or justifiable necessity to kick out a mother and wife who was trying to perfect her residency in the supposed land of the free. It is beyond hope that the president would care the slightest about the undeserved destruction of lives his mass deportation policies are causing (mostly against minorities) today. But maybe others in the administration or Congress might take a step back and realize these actions are the antitheses of a free and decent America in which law-abiding residents and service members should be accommodated and thanked, not punished and treated like animals or violent criminals.

Victor Salerno, Los Angeles