Federal Authority Moves Into Cities

Increased U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, mass deportations, and related racial profiling began creating widespread fear in immigrant communities across the U.S. in 2025. Many people have been avoiding public spaces and skipping work, church, medical appointments, and community gatherings. In addition to disrupting daily life, this climate of fear is also affecting local and global economies — from street vendors disappearing from the streets of Los Angeles and Chicago to effects on the workforces of large international companies.

These actions joined the 2025 deployment of federal troops in several U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon, among others. Although national data shows that crime rates continue to decline, the Trump administration has framed multiple urban areas as unsafe and used this narrative to justify aggressive federal intervention in local law enforcement. This approach to “public safety” risks undermining local autonomy, eroding civil liberties, and increasing fear and tension within communities, particularly in cities with already strained police-community relations.

Public safety is integral to planning, and eroding trust in government directly affects planners’ abilities to engage communities and build inclusive participation processes. ICE activity at public meetings undermines safety and accessibility, discouraging civic involvement. Planners can create safe, inclusive engagement by offering hybrid community meetings and communicating both the safety of public spaces and decreased crime to combat the spread of misperceptions and misrepresentations.