Introduction

Every day, families in our community are affected by immigration enforcement and detention. The St. Louis Rapid Response Hotline grew out of the need for access to accessible, compassionate support in times of crisis. Working in coalition with community partners, we connect impacted individuals to direct resources, help navigate and explain complex systems, facilitate communication with detained loved ones, and provide a powerful witness to these injustices. 

Since July of 2025, we have had contact with hundreds of community members, detained immigrants and their loved ones, coworkers and concerned friends. A majority of these calls took place after a detention. With limited public data provided by immigration enforcement agencies themselves, analyzing our own data and sharing it publicly is an important aspect of the Hotline’s work.

To facilitate public understanding of the evolving landscape of immigration enforcement, Ashrei will publish monthly updates utilizing the data we collect. This data is de-identified and provides a glimpse into what immigration enforcement looks like in our region. As with all data, the information below represents a specific set of facts about a specific time period; this data must be considered together with other sources of data to have a more robust understanding and analysis of trends in the region.

The Data

When the Hotline receives a call from a member of the public, they receive two options: 1) to report suspected immigration enforcement activity that they have witnessed, and 2) for immediate assistance they can speak to a bilingual volunteer Hotline Operator. 

Hotline Operators provide support in a variety of ways, including: locating and communicating with detained loved ones; providing one-time, free legal consultation for people detained by ICE; support with impounded vehicles; facilitating powers of attorney and passports for US citizen children of detained immigrants; general legal information; and orientation and referrals to other resources and services in the region. Our team of volunteers works to meet the needs addressed in our calls. 

Abide in Love, a partner organization with several affiliates in Missouri, Oklahoma and Ohio, is a primary partner in the work of the Hotline. Many Abide in Love affiliates focus their efforts on initiating and maintaining direct contacts with people in ICE custody held in jails across Missouri. Through intentional collaboration and resource sharing, Abide in Love partners also make referrals to the Hotline for additional support.

Not all detentions in Missouri are captured by the Rapid Response Hotline team. However, by speaking directly with detained immigrants and their loved ones, we gather information and insight that helps us shed light on crucial questions: Who is being detained? Where is detention happening in our region? How are people ending up in ICE custody? What is the role of local law enforcement in these detentions? What are the conditions in ICE’s contracted detention centers in Missouri? How is immigration enforcement impacting our region? 

Understanding these patterns offers a more complex analysis of the impacts of immigration enforcement in the region and informs our collective strategies to advocate for the rights and dignity of all people who call Missouri home.

Data Codebook

In order to display the data most concisely, we make minor adjustments each time we pull the data. The following are notes and details specific to each field included in the data used for these reports.

Details coming soon!

update notes

• 6/10/26: The April and May monthly reports were updated to correct an incorrectly labeled field in the “Nature of Arrests by Location” graphics; “work” was changed to “Traffic Stop”, which is the correct label for the values indicated. The current file names end in v2 for May and April.