Updated July 10, 2026
Official federal arrest data confirms a powerful surge in Pacific Northwest immigration enforcement throughout 2025, heavily impacting local communities. A March 2026 report from the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, analyzing newly released Department of Homeland Security I-213 forms (ICE apprehension records), reveals that regional arrests climbed to nearly 2,250 during the final quarter of 2025. This volume approaches historic highs not seen in over a decade. In Washington State, monthly apprehensions more than tripled over the course of the year, driven primarily by “non-custodial arrests” such as street and traffic stops utilizing state vehicle registration databases. Crucially, these official federal records corroborate local grassroots reporting: Whatcom County experienced the third-highest rate of immigration arrests per capita in the entire state at 58 arrests per 100,000 residents, illustrating the disproportionate intensity of enforcement in our region.
NOTE: DHS creates I-213 “Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien” forms when ICE initially apprehends someone they believe to be “deportable” – a category that, in recent months, has been expanded to include a far broader swath of people including many who are present lawfully in the United States, holders of legal work permits, and those eligible for adjustment of status through marriage to a U.S. citizen or other benefits.
Source: https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/2026/03/11/new-data-on-pnw-immigration-enforcement-reveal-powerful-surge-in-late-2025/
This surge in federal records is mirrored by on-the-ground reporting from our immigrant support communities. According to year-end data from the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN), Whatcom County faced one of the highest per-capita rates of reported enforcement activity in the entire state. While King County, with a population of 2.34 million people, recorded 153 incidents in 2025, Whatcom County, with just 235,000 people, recorded 61.
“In 2025, the WAISN Deportation Defense Hotline documented hundreds of confirmed reports of immigration enforcement activity across 30 of 39 Washington counties, with the highest number of reports in King, Yakima, and Whatcom. The map above is only a small sample of real stories of family separation, surveillance, and intimidation tactics that can have devastating, life altering and sometimes deadly consequences. And our communities responded to this moment: calls to the WAISN Hotline to report activity and detentions more than doubled from 2024, and we had more than 200 WAISN Rapid Response Team activations in 2025.That’s why we have been working to restart regular email updates on immigration enforcement activity to help you and your loved ones stay informed. This work is part of our commitment to demystifying enforcement practices, centering the real experiences of impacted communities, and exposing the violent systems that criminalize forced migration and profit from the caging and deporting of immigrants and refugees.”
View the press release on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DU0_oyKD47G/