SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it removed more than 16,000 undocumented immigrants from the San Diego area between Jan. 20, 2025, and April 1, 2026.
ICE shared the data with Congressman Mike Levin in response to a letter he sent to ICE in July 2025.
The agency says the numbers reflect its focus on executing removal orders — part of President Donald Trump's promise in his second term to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
The data includes the citizenship country for each individual removed, with 66% (10,800+) coming from Mexico.
"It's a lot of general information, and we don't have specifics, which is a little bit, uh, concerning," said Jacob Sapochnick, an immigration attorney with Sapochnick Law Firm.
His concern, which aligns with that of Rep. Levin, stems from information not included in the report.
"What this letter does not answer is how many detainees and removals had a criminal record. That is a question that deserves an answer," Levin said.
Sapochnick added, "If you don't give that data, then we're assuming that you're doing this because you need to meet certain quotas."
National immigration data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, known as TRAC, shows that almost 71% of those held in ICE detention as of April 4, 2026, have no criminal conviction.
That was the case for one of Sapochnick's clients in November — a case that drew national attention — when an active-duty Navy sailor watched his wife get detained by ICE agents during a routine green card interview for overstaying her visa.
Sapochnick said the absence of criminal history data from ICE raises questions about the agency's motivations.
In its letter to Levin, ICE argued violent crime charges or convictions are not required for enforcement.
"ICE possesses the unambiguous statutory authority to arrest and remove aliens unlawfully present in the United States, no matter the extent of their criminal histories," the agency said.
Sapochnick said immigration attorneys are not arguing against enforcement itself — but against what they see as a lack of legal protections
"Nobody is here saying that we should let people come to the country, open the borders, allow criminals to do what they're supposed to do, but at the same time we have rules and regulations, due process," Sapochnick said.
As enforcement operations continue, so too does the debate over how they are carried out under this administration.
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