The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than twice as many minors in the first seven months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, according to an investigation by The Marshall Project published this Wednesday in Spanish.
Florida ranks among the states with the most significant increase, raising concerns for thousands of immigrant families —including those from Cuba with tenuous documentation— residing in the state.
The data, obtained from the Deportation Data Project—a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA—reveals that since the beginning of Donald Trump's second term on January 20, 2025, ICE arrested 8,592 minors, according to records analyzed by The Marshall Project, which include data up to early August 2026. In total, 8,755 children went through immigration custody, including 562 infants and toddlers. On average, 198 minors were detained each day.
Florida ranks fourth nationwide with 802 juvenile arrests, behind California (1,635), Texas (1,477), and New York (1,336). However, the most alarming statistic for advocates of rights is the pace: in the first seven months of 2026, Florida and Massachusetts have already exceeded double the total number of juvenile arrests recorded for all of 2025. In New York and New Jersey, the numbers have tripled.
El aumento de arrestos de menores por parte de ICE es parte de un panorama migratorio en constante cambio. Sigue todos los detalles y novedades en nuestra sección de
Florida expanded its collaboration with ICE in 2025 through the 287(g) program, which allows trained local agents to perform certain immigration functions. On February 24 of that year, the Florida Sheriffs Association announced that the jails in all 67 counties had signed agreements with ICE.
This is complemented by the Baker Correctional Institution, known as the "Deportation Depot," in the northern part of the state, which houses approximately 1,000 individuals and operates without having been inspected by ICE's Detention Oversight Office.
The vast majority of minors recorded in arrest records have no criminal history or pending charges beyond the immigration violation, which in almost all cases is civil, not criminal. The report also includes allegations of violent actions by immigration agents. A 16-year-old identified as J.A.I. recounted before a court how agents burst into his home in Texas at five in the morning: "They pointed a gun at my little brother, slammed him against the wall, grabbed him by the hair, and put handcuffs on him. They did the same to me."
Other minors ended up being held in places where neither their lawyers nor their families could locate them. Judicial documents from the Flores agreement record 86 children who remained in hotels for more than three days during February and March. Becky Wolozin, a lawyer from the National Center for Youth Law, described these places as "black boxes" where families practically disappear, with little to no contact with legal representatives and relatives.
For Cuban families in Florida—especially those with I-220A, expired parole, or pending deportation orders—the situation is particularly dire. Detentions of Cubans by ICE increased by 463% between October 2024 and January 2026, while, according to data from November 2025, 42,084 Cubans had pending final deportation orders in the United States. Experts recommend that at-risk families prepare an emergency plan: designate a trusted caregiver in writing, sign medical and school authorizations, keep copies of key documents, and memorize lawyers' phone numbers.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to the specific questions from investigators and, in a written statement, asserted that the data from the Deportation Data Project was inaccurate, without offering any evidence or providing alternative figures.
Elora Mukherjee, a lawyer and professor at Columbia Law School who has represented over 100 children and parents in ICE custody in the past year, summarized the situation as follows: "As a nation, we should not be cruel to children. This is the time of year when children should be back at school, in their classrooms." The report is being released less than three weeks before the legislative elections on November 3, 2026, where immigration policy has become a divisive factor within the Cuban-American vote in Florida.
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