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Former Obama ICE Director Sarah Saldaña criticized President Donald Trump’s use of ICE on Friday, saying it amounted to a police state.
Amid Trump’s attempt to fulfill his campaign promise to deport more people, many commentators have lamented his predecessor, Barack Obama, who was nicknamed the “Deporter-in-chief” during his presidency. While some said Obama’s deportations faced a slight backlash from local leaders at a time of moderate American politics, one official argued that Trump’s was on the upswing.
CNN played a clip of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem talking about the targeted enforcement of deportation efforts that not only focus on specific people, but also ask for identity verification of people around them, saying this has become the norm.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked Saldaña, “What do you think? Is that standard practice for ICE agents to ask someone to verify their identity and show citizenship papers when asked if they are citizens?”
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference to discuss the ongoing activities of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy at One World Trade Center in New York City on January 8, 2026. (David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters)
Saldaña responded, “I know a little bit about this matter, and that’s not a practice. That’s not part of the law. Yes, as reported a little earlier, the goal of the Obama administration with fear and removal was to make the community safer. So we weren’t sweeping neighborhoods and metropolitan areas to try to find people who might be in the country without authorization.”
“I’m always against the word ‘attack,’ because my familiarity with the process — and what we needed — was targeted operations,” he continued. “I heard the secretary there say that all their work is directed at them. I think it’s clear that’s not the case, and requiring American citizens to show that it is is a huge step forward and should stop us all for a while.”
This policy, Saldaña said, is like something “closer to a police state.”
“There is a concern that I have that the decision of the United States last year, the case of Vasquez Perdomo, opened the door to this issue of identification, which is always necessary,” said Saldaña. “The police can ask you to identify yourself, but that’s very different from proving you’re a citizen of the United States, and the paperwork you’re carrying usually won’t show that. So it’s a heavy burden and it’s very close to violating the civil rights of an ordinary citizen.”
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A federal law enforcement officer outside the home at the time of the attack in south Minneapolis on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He went on to say that having thousands of agents participating in such sweeps is an inappropriate response to the challenge at hand. As it is, many agents are faced with mobs of rioters and must control the mob while conducting their immigration operations.
“Florida and Texas have immigrant communities that are much larger than the state of Minnesota. Also, the goal should be to ensure public safety, and this kind of threatening presence does not accomplish that,” Saldaña said.
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Protesters gather outside City Hall in Houston, Texas, Jan. 10, 2026, to protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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