Transparency with ICE
APRIL 2026 UPDATE
Said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of Ohio Immigrant Alliance, “We now have definitive proof that ICE lied about Operation Buckeye. When our government lies to us over and over again, we can’t trust anything they say. No matter who you voted for, we should all be able to agree that the government must tell the truth, rather than changing the facts to suit a false narrative.”
Now that final ICE arrest data from 2025 has been released by the Deportation Data Project, it’s clear that OIA’s analysis about Operation Buckeye was far more accurate than the propaganda numbers published by the administration. ICE claimed 280 people were arrested during the Operation. But, according to data from the Deportation Data Project — which is obtained from the government pursuant to court orders— the true tally was 240.
The government appears to be counting people arrested outside the jurisdiction and timeframe of Operation Buckeye to get to 280. Wrote International Business Times: “The gap between the operation's marketing and its reality is visible in ICE's own communication strategy.”
Not only did ICE lie about the numbers of people arrested, but it also lied about their criminal histories. The Columbus Dispatch wrote: “Although ICE has celebrated going after ‘the worst of the worst criminals’ in Ohio, the vast majority of people taken into custody had no criminal conviction — less than 7% of arrestees during the heightened enforcement surge in mid-December had a criminal record (behind paywall).”
IBT confirmed: “The Ohio Immigrant Alliance's independent examination of jail rosters reached a near-identical conclusion [as the data from the Deportation Data Project]: of 214 detainees it could identify, the group found only 10 with documented criminal histories, fewer than 5%, and noted that at least three of those ten were arrested before Operation Buckeye even began.”
IBT cited ABC 6’s analysis of the backgrounds of people ICE called “criminal aliens,” which was also in OIA’s report. Despite the federal government’s claims of serious criminal behavior, ABC 6 found that the accusations from ICE didn’t match their actual criminal records. For example, one man who ICE said had multiple convictions for drug possession was found to have only a traffic ticket.
ORIGINAL POST
ICE is playing catch-up to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, finally publishing numbers about arrests during Operation Buckeye weeks after we did.
The federal government claims 280 people were arrested, and cites a laundry list of criminal offenses to justify their capture. The Ohio Immigrant Alliance identified at least 214 people — likely more — who had been arrested during the Operation, through a variety of sources. Our analysis also documented the fact that the public cannot trust the government’s claims about immigrants’ criminal history. As we wrote, “the administration has a documented record of lying about immigrants’ criminal histories and gang affiliations. It also refuses to answer questions from the media or provide transparent evidence of its claims.” ABC 6 also found major disparities in their accusations.
Wrote Philip Bump, “You cannot trust the Department of Homeland Security. This seems like a political statement, but it isn’t. It is a recommendation rooted in 12 months of presentations and claims from Homeland Security officials and agents — claims that have been proven false at a remarkable rate.”
Our analysis highlights two other truths the government is trying to obscure:
Many people with work authorization and pending immigration cases — people who are not actually deportable — were arrested during the Operation and remain in Ohio county jails, detained for ICE. None are being charged with crimes. The government’s strategy is to make detention painful so they agree to give up on their cases and sign up for their own deportation.
The way ICE operated in Columbus was violent, chasing people, causing car crashes, and creating panic at schools. None of this serves the goal of creating a functioning and fair immigration process. Instead, it terrorizes entire communities.
Instead, Congress should update the immigration laws to make them rational and humane. It must also abolish ICE as an institution. This authoritarian agency cannot be fixed.
“As always, the people closest to what is happening in our communities have the best information. We are transparent. And we are united with Columbus leadership — government officials, faith leaders, community organizers, and immigrants who are just trying to work and take care of their families. We need ICE out of our communities, and an end to this agency. These unaccountable, trigger-happy agents only bring chaos and violence. They aren’t behaving responsibly. This isn’t a reasonable way to enforce an immigration system that needs an overhaul. ICE is using authoritarian tactics to arrest and even kill people they don’t agree with,” said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.
“The very first murder in Minneapolis this year was committed by an ICE agent, and the federal government is actively engaged in a cover-up to protect him. Renee Good’s murder is terrifying proof that the real criminals work at ICE. Closer to home, an ICE supervisor in Cincinnati was about to kill his partner when a neighbor saved her life. Samuel Saxon has a history of domestic violence that includes strangulation and broken bones. Even his supervisor called him a ‘loose cannon,’ yet he remained on the force. No one is safe when ICE agents are empowered to roam our streets and kill anyone they don’t like,” she continued.
“U.S. Americans deserve a functioning immigration system. The one we have now is not it, and the Trump administration is only making it worse. In the meantime, good people who have built lives in this country, raised children here, and made tremendous contributions are being warehoused in county jails. They are being thrown away like trash after years of work and sacrifice. On the Ohio Immigrant Hotline we get calls from people who are denied medication for conditions like diabetes and cancer in ICE jail — conditions that are fatal if not managed. What are we doing here? Are we really going to let people die in our jails, because they were working and taking care of their families? Ohioans are reasonable people. We know this is wrong. If you have an ICE jail in your community, raise your voice with your elected leaders and tell them you want the contract ended,” Tramonte concluded.
