ICE boosts weapons spending 600%
A Popular Information investigation reveals tens of millions in new ICE spending on guns, chemical weapons, and explosives.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sharply increased its spending on weapons in 2025, according to an analysis of federal government contracting data by Popular Information. Records from the Federal Procurement Data System reveal that ICE has increased spending on “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing” by more than 600% compared to 2024 levels.
New spending in the small arms category from January 20, 2025, the day Trump was inaugurated, through October 18, totaled $71,515,762. Most of the spending was on guns and armor, but there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons and one purchase that was categorized as “guided missile warheads and explosive components.”
After the initial publication of this article, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement clarifying that ICE had not purchased guided missle components. The database says the purchase was for “distraction devices.”
On September 29, 2025, ICE made a $9,098,590 purchase from Geissele Automatics, which sells semi-automatic and automatic rifles. The total spending by ICE in the small arms category between January 20 and October 18, 2024, was $9,715,843.
Spending by ICE on guns and other weapons this year not only dwarfs spending during the Biden administration but also during Trump’s first term. In 2019, for example, ICE spent $5.7 million on small arms through October 18. Average ICE spending on small arms during Trump’s first four years was about $8.4 million.
The data likely understates new spending on weaponry deployed in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, since many other federal agencies beyond ICE have been involved. But it provides a window into how ICE and other agencies are bringing an unprecedented number of high-powered weapons into American cities.
More weapons, more violence
The surge in spending on ICE weaponry has coincided with a wave of violent incidents by ICE officers. Several dangerous situations have been captured on video.
Last month in Illinois, a pastor, Reverend David Black, was shot in the face with a pepper ball by an ICE officer. In another September incident, an ICE officer dropped his gun while violently making an arrest and then pointed it at bystanders.
An ICE officer also allegedly shot a pepper ball at the vehicle of a CBS News Chicago reporter in September. The reporter’s window was open, allowing chemical agents “to engulf the inside of her truck,” which “caused her to vomit.”
In August, US Marine Corps veteran Daryn Herzberg was hospitalized “after being tackled from behind by ICE agents while protesting outside a federal facility in Portland.”
At the time he was attacked, Herzberg was criticizing ICE officers “for firing down on unarmed protesters.” A video shows “an agent grabbing Herzberg by the hair and slamming his face into the ground multiple times while saying, ‘You’re not talking shit anymore are you?’”
In July, an aggressive ICE raid of a California cannabis farm left several workers injured and one dead. Jaime Alanís Garcia, who was not a target of the raid, climbed onto a greenhouse roof to escape the chaos and fell 30 feet to his death.
“What we’re seeing is a general escalation of violence and the use of excessive force by ICE officers,” Ed Yohnka of ACLU Illinois told NPR. Yohnka has filed a lawsuit on behalf of protesters, including Pastor Black, arguing that ICE’s tactics violate their constitutional rights.
“All over the country, federal agents have shot, gassed, and detained individuals engaged in cherished and protected activities,” the lawsuit says. It accuses ICE and other federal agencies of “the dangerous and indiscriminate use of near-lethal weapons such as tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper-balls, flash grenades, and other unwarranted and disproportionate tactics.”
CORRECTION (10/24): This piece has been corrected to clarify that, notwithstanding the federal contracting database entry, ICE did not purchase “guided missle warheads.” It also corrected the percentage increase based on the volume small arms purchases by ICE in 2024 and 2025. We regret the errors.
Strong evidence that the government is building a lethal army to eventually use against its own citizens.
A vital report on a terrifying state of affairs. These are not professional soldiers—these are thugs with weapons in search of a bonus. Thank you, Judd and team!