Welcome back to This Week on ICE.

Major moves happened this week, so before we get into our official run of show, here’s a quick rundown of the latest:

Alligator Alcatraz will be officially dismantled by early June, per a Tuesday report by the New York Times. The closure follows a year of intense legal challenges, controversial operational costs, and allegations of inhumane conditions. The 1,400 people currently detained at the facility are expected to be moved in the coming weeks.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Wednesday that former private prison firm executive Dave Venturella will become the new acting ICE director beginning June 1. He will succeed Todd Lyons, who is expected to leave the administration for a role in the private sector at the end of this month.

And finally, a new wave of ICE deployments has officially begun, with the agency deploying about 330 agents to cities in more than 40 states, plus Puerto Rico, to bolster existing immigration enforcement.

We have even more to share. Let’s dive in.

The top line: What the 2026 Border Security Expo in Phoenix says about future DHS activity

The big story out of Phoenix? How the U.S. government plans to act on its reclassification of major cartels like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel as global terrorist entities. That label has blown open a Pandora’s box of new counterterrorism authorities, beefed-up sanctions, expanded surveillance, and a growing military role in fighting these groups. Expected, sure. But here’s where it gets interesting.

DHS isn’t just redefining who counts as a terrorist organization abroad. It’s quietly redrawing the lines at home, too. The FBI’s FY2027 budget request from March asks Congress for roughly $166 million to go after entities engaged in so-called “anti-American activities.” The expo’s fixation on a sweeping, ever-expanding terrorism umbrella makes that budget line hard to ignore.

“This is what they’re designating as anti-American activity: anything that is anti-capitalist, anything that is anti-Christian, anyone who behaves in extremist ways on migration, race, and gender. … The FBI’s new designation of terrorism is particularly worrisome, because what human rights experts are warning is that expressing beliefs even as banal as a critique of capitalism can now be considered a precursor for domestic terrorist activity. And they now want a multi-million dollar budget directed toward this.” — Kelly

Also on our radar: Deaths in ICE detention facilities are on track toward historic highs

Deaths in ICE detention facilities across the country have hit grim milestones this month. On May 1, a Cuban man identified as 33-year-old Denny Adan González, died inside the privately run Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, becoming the 18th person to die this year in the custody of ICE, and the fifth death believed to be by suicide, according to Physicians for Human Rights, which warned of a pattern of “increasing suicides” in these facilities.

“We’re five months into 2026 already, and we have 18 deaths – that’s one death every six and a half days. If the pace holds through December, we’ll see about 56 deaths by the end of the year. Last year was the deadliest year for ICE detention in over a couple decades… We’re on track to nearly double that stat that we saw last year.”— Ben

Plus: An interview exclusive with James Cordero, a water drop coordinator for Al Otro Lado

Ben sat down with James to talk about what it’s like to hike into the California desert every week to leave water and food for people crossing the border, how ramped up enforcement has pushed migration routes into more remote and deadly terrain, and what happens when you find someone out there who did not make it.

“Way too many people are dying while they're trying to cross into the United States, and every year temperatures keep getting hotter and hotter, colder and colder, depending on the season. It is a dangerous journey. And the more surveillance, the more border walls, more militarization on the border, it just keeps pushing people into further and further dangerous areas. … I have a death kit inside my backpack at all times, because you never know what you’re going to come across.” — James

That’s all for now. Keep sending your questions, comments and thoughts to [email protected]. Catch you next time.

— Kelly, Matt and Ben

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thisweekonice.substack.com