Kristen Etter

Mullen's comments point to a federal program that deputizes local police to act as ICE officers.

It has exploded in growth during President Trump's second term.

In Florida and Texas in particular, more than 40 million people live in places where local police have signed on.

Immigrant rights groups say the program creates situations where minor traffic stops quickly turn into immigration arrests.

And when local police do the work, they say, it makes immigration enforcement more hidden.

Kristen Etter is with the Texas Immigration Law Council.

In a statement to NPR, a DHS spokesperson says the department has, quote, supercharged its efforts to work with local police.

Meg Anderson, NPR News.

Detention, mass deportation, but do it in a way so that the public doesn't think it's happening anymore.