An ICE agent is seen standing in front of a house in a residential area. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"You want to go where the criminals are … and so, you're going to be looking at data about where is it that we can find the biggest bang for our buck," he explained, adding, "Traditionally, that's going to be in larger urban cities, just because they're higher density population, and you're more likely to find your criminal populations there."
When it comes to the role of sanctuary cities in ICE’s targeting process, Sandweg said that "sanctuary policies are not all equal."
"ICE is really good at getting people in prisons and jails. There isn't a person booked into a prison or jail in the United States today that ICE doesn't get visibility on," he explained. "While we're paying a lot of attention to these kinds of very public standoffs between protesters and DHS agents in Minneapolis and other places, there's a lot going on behind the scenes the public doesn't understand, including the picking up of people in prisons and jails, federal, state, local, across the country."
DHS WEBSITE TRAFFIC SURGES 68% AS THOUSANDS USE TRUMP'S SELF-DEPORTATION APP FOR VOLUNTARY DEPARTURE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents look over lists of names and their hearing times and locations inside the Federal Plaza courthouse before making arrests on June 27, 2025 in New York. (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)
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"There are jurisdictions … that have very restrictive sanctuary policies, where you're sitting there scratching your head saying, these are bad guys, why won't they give us custody of this person in jail?" he said. "In those jurisdictions, you're going to find more targets because those people, ICE normally would take custody of them in jail or prison."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/watch-former-ice-director-reveals-what-goes-agencys-decisions-cities-target