Washington DC - ICE is significantly ramping up weapons purchases amid Donald Trump's escalating assault on immigrant communities.

An analysis by Popular Information found that ICE has boosted spending on "small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing" by 700% over the last year, according to records from the Federal Procurement Data System.

The news outlet reported that from January 20 to October 18, new spending in the small arms category totaled $71,515,762. Most of that money went toward guns and armor, but ICE also bought chemical weapons and "guided missile warheads and explosive components."

The sum far exceeded that under the prior two administrations. In Trump's first term, average annual ICE spending on small arms was around $8.4 million.

Politicians Gavin Newsom's feud with Joe Rogan reaching new heights as trolling exchange continues

The reporting comes as Donald Trump continues to deploy heavily armed, masked federal agents to US cities including Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Portland, and more.

Videos on social media show officers using tear gas and beating demonstrators protesting their presence in their communities. More disturbing footage shows ICE agents violently abducting people of immigrant backgrounds from their work places, court appointments, and other locations, as public concerns grow over the administration's human rights violations and growing authoritarianism.

Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" – signed into law over the summer – called for $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border measures, including $75 billion in additional funding for ICE.

In These Times said that if the US' immigration enforcement apparatus were its own national military, it would be the 13th most heavily funded in the world.