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BY ALEXANDREA BAILEY and ERIKA DE LOS REYES | STAFF WRITERS

Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Rio Grande Valley communities have dominated headlines since 2025, and with a shortage of reliable data, researchers have employed the Freedom of Information Act to show the public how many people have been affected here by the Trump administration’s ramping-up of deportations.

Looking back, the Deportation Data Project’s public records initiative shows over 13,000 people have been detained in the region since 2022, disrupting the construction and housing industry, disproportionately affecting youth, and standing to significantly strain the taxpayer base, which foots a hefty chunk of ICE costs.

Within heavily immigrant communities living on the poverty line, an increase in ICE movement across the country has led to a growing fear among people and their families due to the uncertainty of the agency’s operations.

Many workers, children and families shelter at home afraid to be detained — or worse — as ICE roams the streets, looking to meet detainment quotas.

According to Caminos Institute’s inaugural report detailing the human and economic toll of ICE operations in the Valley, at least 13,377 undocumented individuals were apprehended through various interior enforcement activities from 2022-2026.

In 2025 alone, since the inauguration of the current administration, 5,087 noncitizens were detained, with an average of 413 apprehensions a month. This is equivalent to one person apprehended every two hours.

The report states of these cases, 86.3% were deported. This culminates to an unprecedented enforcement campaign compared to any previous administration.

The Valley’s youth have been a significant target.

According to the report, the median age of these individuals is 36, but strikingly, at least 118 persons were under the age of 18. The majority are male, 68.9%, with the largest share of detainees originating from Mexico (74%), followed by Central America (12.7%) and South America (10.4%).

Additionally, roughly 84.2% of individuals apprehended over this period came into the United States between 2016 and 2026, rising likely due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the expiration of Title 42 — the federal public health order aimed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in 2020 by expelling migrants at the border.

Businesses large and small have felt the impact ICE has left on the Valley.

The report estimates 10,142 deportations resulted in the loss of 9,473 workers, totaling a nearly $231.7 million loss in labor income, about a $196.9 million loss in local economic circulation, and roughly $180.7 million in local economic impact.

The largest losses unfolded in 2025 with the removal of 4,389 people, 4,099 of whom were taken from the labor force. The report estimates more than $100.3 million in direct income losses, along with about $85.2 million lost from local recirculation in 2025 alone.

Those losses become more tangible in the aftermath of workplace raids, particularly in industries such as construction, which employs 18% of the Valley’s total workforce. As a result, labor shortages have caused the construction sector of the economy to slow by 30%-40%, with members of the South Texas Builders Association reporting a drop in profits by as much as 50%.

Increased deportations could further strain the Valley’s tax base, the report warns, with local taxpayers projected to contribute more than $300 million toward federal immigration enforcement costs.

THE IMPACT OF FORCED-ABSENCE

The report paints a clearer picture of the toll ICE has left on the community, but what does that impact look like outside of the numbers and statistics?

Norma Sepulveda, Harlingen’s mayor and an immigration attorney, has seen the turmoil experienced by both her clients as well as the residents of Harlingen.

“What we have been seeing is that there are families being torn apart, individuals that have been living in the United States for many, many years and contributing, own business and navigating through the process,” Sepulveda said Monday. “A lot of the people that you see being picked up are individuals already in immigration court pursuing some type of relief…”

Courts force many to voluntarily deport, with minimal time for detainees to prepare. Many of these voluntary deportations are the result of detainees’ inability to pay expensive bonds — some topping off at $15,000, posing an impossibility for the countless families surviving paycheck to paycheck.

Voluntary departures, the single most common outcome, account for 29.6% of cases.

“This has been the first time in my career that we have been requesting voluntary departure and saying there’s nothing that we can do to allow you to remain in the U.S.,” said Sepulveda.

The attorney noted that many detainees are targeted despite legal status. Additionally, during this administration, many cases have been re-calendarized — meaning they were previously removed from dockets as non-priority for lack of criminal records, but have since been added back.

“Now all of sudden everybody is a priority for removal,” said Sepulveda. “It’s really devastating (what) the detention causes on families and there’s a ripple effect.”

Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, explained that the nonprofit has received an uptick in requests for assistance since the start of the immigration crackdown from families in need.

Pimintel has observed many residents living in fear, avoiding simply stepping outside of their homes, sometimes to even receive assistance from the charity.

“They are showing fear of participation in any of our programs,” Pimentel said, adding that due to the fear, many families are now struggling with food and housing insecurity.

Since food is a main source of concern, Catholic Churches across the Valley are looking for ways to fund additional assistance for families in need.

Pimintel described coordination between denominations to help meet the needs in various South Texas communities. Recently, the Latter-Day Saints sent an 18-wheeler with food from San Antonio which was distributed to Valley colonias and other low-income areas.

Along with food distribution, Catholic Charities also provides direct aid to families of detainees as they face challenges that come in the forced-absence of their loved ones.

“It’s going to have a big impact on the emotional part of who we are and how we deal with this as we move forward as a community,” Pimintel said.

She’s noted emotional trauma not only experienced by immigrant families, but experienced by affected communities as a whole. She wonders how Valley people will navigate this unprecedented situation, and how they will move forward, together.

“The broader impact is that it’s affecting all of us, everybody, the community, the economy of all the cities, workers, business, families are afraid to go to school, afraid to go to church,” said Piminetal. “It’s completely disrupting our way of life for all of us.”

“They’re our neighbors, they’re our friends, they’re people that we care about and we’ve known them forever and now they’re facing very difficult circumstances,” she added. “We feel that things have changed dramatically for everybody here in the RGV because of this.”

The sentiment rings true for Sepulveda, navigating the circumstances as a leader in her city. She hopes that as deportations continue to climb, so does empathy and patience for those affected.

“It’s been very taxing and it’s unfortunate that we’re in that kind of situation, and we can’t be more compassionate with people that have been members of our community for such a long time?” she asked.