TITLE: AMERICA'S HUNT FOR MIGRANTS

Project: DOCUMENTARY

DIRECTOR: LOUISE VAN ASSCHE

City:  EL PASO, SAN ANTONIO, AUSTIN, Texas

Trump promised to go after the “worst of the worst” with his intensifying policies. But who is really paying the price? In Texas, the state with the highest rate of arrests, Louise Van Assche meets those affected by the attacks causing nationwide uproar, and only escalating in frequency.

It sounds like a nightmare: being snatched off the street by armed, masked men with no identification. This is the work of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. In 2025, ICE received a $75 billion budget boost and is conducting an unprecedented campaign of arrests, raids, and deportations. “It’s become the largest [US] law enforcement agency and there is no indication it’ll get smaller anytime soon” , warns journalist Uriel Garcia. Before the administration had chiefly targeted those with criminal backgrounds, they are now expanding their reach in order to satisfy election promises, explains immigration attorney Amanda. “There’s not enough to make mass deportation numbers. Now, it’s just open season” . The same pursuit for efficiency also decides who is detained and when. According to Garcia, detentions and raids hinge on “how much room there is in a detention centre, it has nothing to do with the individual facts of a person”.