Maria Colon intentionally reduced the number of cases her law office accepts this past year as the stack of complicated cases on her plate demanded more of her time.

The Lutherville-based immigration attorney attributes the change in her workday to an increase in administrative arrests by federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“Over the past year, my workload has changed significantly,” she said. “Immigration cases are no longer as straightforward as they once were.”

ICE arrests in Maryland more than tripled during the first year of Trump’s second term when compared to former President Joe Biden’s last year in office, a Banner analysis of newly released data shows.

The data was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Deportation Data Project, a group of lawyers and researchers who work to collect and make public federal immigration enforcement data.

While not commenting specifically on the Maryland figures, a Trump administration spokeswoman Tuesday said that overall, stepped-up immigration enforcement has made the country safer.

“Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security Lauren Bis wrote in a statement to The Banner.

The new data release offers the first look at an entire year of immigration arrests overseen by the Trump administration, which has pushed an aggressive enforcement agenda. Throughout his campaign, Trump promised to carry out the nation’s largest mass deportation of illegal immigrants in the country’s history.

Federal agents made more than 4,800 arrests in Maryland between January 20, 2025 — Trump’s second inauguration — and January 19, 2026, compared to 1,478 over the same period during the prior year.

Arrests in Maryland picked up this winter, even as they began to fall across the nation. The state saw 771 arrests in January, the most since at least October 2022, and nearly 20% more than Maryland had last December.

In February, even as arrests across the nation dropped by 20%, Maryland’s remained elevated, dropping by only 2%

The numbers don’t lie, said Bishop Angel Nuñez, senior pastor at the Bilingual Christian Church of Baltimore.

“It is obvious to me that our people continue to be greatly affected by the arrests that are taking place today,” he said, describing how an increasing number of arrests have taken mental and financial tolls on immigrants and their families.

“You do what you got to do to survive — day by day. Trying to find work, food, and paying bills."

Families who are left behind after a loved one has been arrested are forced to adjust through pooling resources with others in similar situations.

“They’re staying low or unseen as to not attract attention,” he added.

Baltimore City Councilwoman Odette Ramos believes these arrests are nothing more than to justify meeting a quota.

“These numbers do not justify a holding facility in this state and do not justify holding people at Fallon,” Ramos said in reference to the controversial space known as a holding room facility where detainees have been held in downtown Baltimore upon arrest — sometimes for multiple days at a time under unsanitary conditions, critics claim.

“What these numbers say to me is these are unlawful arrests,” Ramos said. “They should not be making these arrests and disrupting the lives of families across our state and terrorizing our communities.”

More: Baltimore families ripped apart by ICE detentions, deportations

The increase in arrests across the state was driven mostly by people who have never been charged with a crime.

When Trump took office in January 2025, fewer than a quarter of immigration arrests involved a person without a criminal history. Nine months later, that number had risen to just over 60%.

By this January, it had jumped to 80%.

Baltimore City Council president Zeke Cohen disputed the idea that such arrests have made the city safer.

“They represent the harassment and terror of immigrants by armed, masked men in unmarked vans,” he said.

In Colon’s immigration law practice, the waitlist for getting a consultation has swelled to six weeks. It was two to three weeks under Biden, she said.

Despite the demand, Colon said, she has to be extremely selective in the cases she accepts. This is particularly true for those who have been detained, as their cases require immediate and intensive attention.

“It would be ethically irresponsible for me to take on more urgent cases than I can competently manage,” she added.

The stakes are high for removal cases, which requires heightened scrutiny, multiple layers of internal review, and strict compliance measures to ensure accuracy, Colon said.

“There is very little margin for error. Even when cases are prepared thoroughly and correctly, there is still a risk of unjust outcomes,” she added.

Clients, according to Colon, are increasingly anxious and fearful, needing constant reassurance. Some are taking extreme precautionary measures, including selling assets, preparing for potential removal and, in the case of single parents, seeking guidance on standby guardianships for their children, Colon explained.

Colon said she routinely works more — up to 10 to 12 hours per day — “to ensure that every matter is as strong, thorough, and compliant as possible.”

“There is constant pressure to maintain the highest level of diligence, not only to protect my clients, but also to safeguard my professional obligations and license,” she said. “I take these responsibilities very seriously and remain committed to providing competent, ethical, and thorough representation despite the increasing challenges and systemic obstacles we are facing.”