For those in the country illegally, ICE is synonymous with fear.
Five days after taking office, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order that made clear just about any immigrant living in the country illegally could be a priority for deportation.
In areas with large immigrant populations, the threat of undocumented immigrants' being arrested by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is constant, hanging over daily life like a cloud. And while it always has been a threat, some say Trump's executive order intensifies it.
Families with children who were born in the United States fear being separated if undocumented parents are arrested.
"The main change that has occurred as a result of the Trump administration is that no person who is in the country illegally is exempt from arrest and removal from the country," said Tom Byrd, spokesman for the ICE field office in New Orleans. "There is still a hierarchy, such as someone who is a threat to national security, but no category is exempt.
"Under the old administration, if we pulled over three people who are illegal and one of them was a criminal, then that person would be held and the other two let go even if they are illegal. We would identify them, but we would let them go."
Byrd described the previous way of doing things as "catch and release," where the target is the convicted felon.
ICE statistics are only kept for each five-state area of operations. Numbers for Arkansas are included in the New Orleans area of operations. Northeast Texas numbers are included in the Dallas area of operations.
Numbers of arrests in the New Orleans area of operations have increased from 2,406 in fiscal year 2013 to 5,284 through June 30 of fiscal year 2017. In 2014, 2,097 arrests were made. There were 1,496 in 2015 and 1,418 in 2016.
The number of those detained declined from 2013 to 2016 but increased sharply since-from 1,155 in 2016 to 5,338 in 2017. Authorities detained 2,032 people in 2013; 1,745 in 2014; and 1,302 in 2015.
The number of those removed shows the same trend, with 1,387 removed in 2016 and 6,665 this year, according to statistics from the New Orleans field office. Agents removed 3,405 people in 2013; 2,745 in 2014; and 1,758 in 2015.
The numbers of arrests and removals in the Dallas area of operations, which includes Northeast Texas, showed a decrease in 2016, the most recent year for which stats are available, according to information from Carl Rusnok, director of communications for ICE's central region.
The Dallas area information shows 9,634 undocumented immigrants arrested in 2016, compared to 15,973 in 2013. Authorities arrested 8,205 immigrants in 2015 and 15,107 in 2014.
Immigrants removed in Dallas area in 2016 numbered 12,045, compared to 16,053 in 2013. In 2015, agents removed 12,045 people, and 15,030 were removed in 2014.
Since January, rumors of raids by ICE have been rampant in De Queen and other towns with high immigrant populations.
Mireya Reith, founder and director of Arkansas United, said new ICE activity has been seen.
The organization, which seeks to empower immigrants to find greater potential through opportunities in their communities, also supports families with deportation defense.
"It is our understanding ICE has been coming up here and actively looking for people who have past deportation orders," said Reith, who's based in Springdale. "We're definitely seeing that for the Southwest (Arkansas) community."
These are people ICE wouldn't have sought actively before but now does, she said.
Reith said they haven't seen raids, but rather traffic stops in line with normal activity-but strategically placed where many immigrant households are.
"There does seem to be some strategy in terms of location," she said, adding the stops are set up where a significant number of "black and brown" families live.
However, an ICE spokesman calls the surveillance of undocumented immigrants "targeted enforcement" and denies the reports of "sweeps" or "raids."
"If we have a reason to believe someone is at a certain address, we watch the house," Byrd said. "We don't kick in doors or use scare tactics. That doesn't need to happen. We sit on the house, and when the person leaves, we make a traffic stop."
ICE agents can make arrests at homes, businesses and other places. Organizations such as schools and churches are referred to as "sensitive locations" and are generally off-limits, Byrd said.
"We are not going to wait outside schools and target mom picking up her kids. Churches and hospitals are off limits. We don't interrupt protests, weddings, funerals," Byrd said.
ICE agents can do both announced or unannounced inspections at businesses with heavy immigrant populations in the workforce.
Agents inspect paperwork and I-9 verification. Warnings often are given if a number of undocumented immigrants are working at the plant.
"The plant could be fined. If the hiring of illegals is blatant, if they keep doing it, the fines could be in the millions," Byrd said. "But it's not about going in and closing down Purdue."
Byrd said ICE does not rely on local law enforcement for information on immigrants. A program is in place to train local officers what questions to ask someone who may be undocumented, but the program has not been implemented in Southwest Arkansas, he said.
If a person who is in the country illegally is arrested, the process that often leads to deportation can be a long one.
First, the immigrant is arrested, either as a result of targeted enforcement by ICE or a criminal charge by local law enforcement.
"They post bond, then we get notified and request they (local law enforcement) hold them so we can get them," Byrd said.
The information is shared with ICE, which can request an individual be held up to 48 hours and transferred into its custody. Local law enforcement is not required to honor those requests. After that, the immigrant must be released, but ICE can still arrest that person in the future.
After arrest, ICE decides whether to take custody of immigrants and pursue removal proceedings.
Those found to have entered the United States illegally or overstayed their visas may be deported through the expedited removal process. Only immigrants who were arrested within 100 miles of a U.S. border and have been in the country two weeks or less are eligible for expedited removal.
People who are arrested can be detained if ICE decides to pursue removal. The agency assesses the security and safety risk of each person to decide whether bond should be granted or if they may be released on their own recognizance.
"Things are taken into consideration like if they have a family and a job, if they are married with three kids born in the USA, chances are they are not going to flee. They are the ones you can make a case for that they are going to stay," Byrd said.
Those here illegally are held in immigration detention centers or other contracted prisons.
Some can volunteer to leave the country on their own terms-an act that, under strict guidelines, may permit them to later return to the U.S. legally if they have the means.
Voluntary departures are heard in two stages and must be requested early in the deportation process. If voluntary departure is granted, the immigrant is given a deadline to leave the country. The date is typically within two or four months, depending on what stage of the process it was requested.
"It can vary on time. If someone is an established member of the community, we give them time to get their affairs in order and make their arrangements themselves," Byrd said. "It benefits them to self-remove because it shortens the time limit on when they can come back."
If an individual does not go through the expedited removal process, they begin the traditional immigration court process.
ICE gives notices to appear in removal proceedings that list the reasons the government believes somone is undocumented and should be removed. Notices can be served by immigration officers or mailed, and immigrants are given at least 10 days' notice before appearing in court.
They then go before an immigration judge in a city where one is available.
The closest immigration judges to Southwest Arkansas are in Louisiana and Memphis, Tenn., Byrd said.
"It varies on where we have space to where they see the judge," Byrd said.
Byrd said he realizes ICE is not popular with many people.
"The biggest thing we want to get out to the public is we are not trying to scare people. There are a lot of rumors and they create nervousness. And that does an injustice to the immigrant population," he said.
The path to citizenship can be long and difficult, but it's the only sure way for an immigrant to stay in the country, he said.
"We don't make the policy; we just enforce it. And at the end of the day, you are either here legally or illegally," Byrd said.