Ohio ICE enforcement scrutinized, former detainee warns of broad risks

New data show arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of people without criminal charges have surged in Ohio since June.

Civil liberties advocates said the shift widens the dragnet, while federal officials insist most arrests involve people with criminal histories. The UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project reported noncriminal arrests accounted for about 50% of ICE’s daily arrests in Ohio in June, up from 29% in May, following a Trump administration move to triple ICE’s daily arrest quota to 3,000.

Ayman Soliman, a Cincinnati faith leader who was detained for 73 days earlier this year while seeking protection, said the experience revealed systemic failings.

“The sense of injustice was the worst of all,” Soliman emphasized. “I came here fleeing persecution and you’re telling me you’re going to send me back to where I … fled from. So the feeling of injustice was the most overwhelming of all.”

DHS said “70% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges,” although independent analyses showed sharp increases in noncriminal arrests.

Soliman said his case highlighted broader uncertainty for people in legal limbo. He pointed to a wave of asylum terminations he tracked while fighting his own case.

“I heard that, I think, they probably terminated 2,400 asylum status(es), since March of 2025,” Soliman noted. “If they did it to me, they can do it to anyone.”

Meanwhile, a ProPublica review found more than 170 U.S. citizens have been detained by immigration agents during sweeps and protests this year, about two dozen held over a day without being able to call a lawyer or family, underscoring the civil rights stakes when enforcement expands.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.