Lauren Villagran
@laurenvillagran
National Reporter for @USATODAY covering immigration, borders. Send tips on SIGNAL @laurenvillagran.57
You cannot deport 4% of the U.S. population without fundamentally reshaping every citizen's relationship to law enforcement, regardless of their immigration status.
"Mass deportation and large-scale immigration enforcement require nothing less than a police state, and the more of a crackdown you demand, the more obviously it will look and act like a police state."
🇺🇸 ICE Detention Sites Growing Fast In South ▫Trump using GOP-led states in deportation campaign ▫@laurenvillagran ▫is.gd/qdkRsK #frontpagestoday #USA @USATODAY 🇺🇸
An ICE attorney resigned from ICE, saying he ultimately felt he "had to make a moral decision" to leave after watching ICE's priorities change under political pressure. "It became a contest of how many deportations could be reported to Stephen Miller. newsweek.com/ice-employee-q…
In her OnlyFans photos she is sunbathing and smiling. In reality, she’s locked up in ICE detention. How immigrants & their families are going to new lengths to raise $$ for deportation defense >> @USATODAY usatoday.com/story/news/nat… via @USATODAY
CBS News: ICE is holding 58,000 individuals in its detention system, around 46% of whom are detainees who lack criminal records but face civil immigration charges, according to internal government data. The rest of detainees have pending criminal charges or convictions.
1. Spent the morning with a volunteer search-and-rescue team in Kerr County, TX, doing the grim work of looking for flood victims. 🧵#TexasFloods @USATODAY
#JulioCesarChavezJr was a no-show in criminal court, though @ICEgov arrested him last week. His attorney says he has "no idea" where he is being held... and Mexico wants him back on drug trafficking charges. The latest from @USATODAY usatoday.com/story/sports/b…
ICYMI: The surge in highly public immigration raids & arrests is getting @ICEgov agents hurt. Former officials say the aggressive tactics are to blame.👇 The @DHSgov post below now claims a 700% increase in assaults. usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
KTLA fell for a HOAX. This woman was never arrested or “kidnapped” by ICE. If the media would have bothered to ask—ICE does not employ bounty hunters to make arrests. This bizarre tale about being picked up by bounty hunters, taken to an unmarked warehouse without access to food,…
ICE took her mother in Chicago. Now a 6-year-old is left without a guardian or a legal path to reunite in Honduras. A story about the children left behind by deportations—and the lack of infrastructure to care for them in the U.S or for reunification. chicagotribune.com/2025/06/22/ice…
'No Secret Police'? #California lawmakers are trying to ban law enforcement from wearing masks after numerous #ICERaids by masked plainclothes agents: usatoday.com/story/news/pol… @USATODAY
'They come from places like Venezuela, Panama, Colombia and Mexico, working low-wage jobs, caring round-the-clock for animals worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.' How #ICERaids are upending the #horseracing industry: usatoday.com/story/sports/c…
I debated whether to share my story on here, but I guess I will. I think there's an idea out there that millions of violent criminals are pouring across the border, carrying machetes and drugs, looking to harm Americans. Certainly, while some people fall into that category, the…
Calling it an “invasion” unlocked the wartime powers Trump’s using in his immigration crackdown>> @USATODAY usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
I don’t know if Americans realize how often ICE arrests US citizens, and how long those citizens can spend detained. I spoke to Davino Watson, who spent 3.5 years in a detention center. He was a citizen every minute of that time. 1/3
Amid a crackdown on #migration at the US-Mexico border, a grim search for human remains continues >> w/ @fotornelas for @usatoday usatoday.com/story/news/nat…
"Illegal border crossings have plunged. DHS still says it needs billions to build a wall." (via @laurenvillagran and @rbeggin) azcentral.com/story/news/pol…
Great piece by @suzyscribe. First in a series on 'Losing Home.' Stay tuned. How 'money, power or greed' ripped the Nooksack 306 from their homes - and their tribe usatoday.com/story/news/nat… via @usatoday
JUST IN: The Trump administration asks a court to end the Flores Settlement Agreement, which has governed the care of migrant children in U.S. custody for nearly 3 decades, since 1997. The first Trump administration tried to do the same, but its effort was blocked in court.