A federal agent threats to Tase protestors as his comrades look on outside Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, June 13, 2025. Andres Kudacki/Getty Images

This story was originally published by Popular Information, a substack publication to which you can subscribe here.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sharply increased its spending on weapons in 2025, according to an analysis of federal government contracting data by Popular Information. Records from the Federal Procurement Data System reveal that ICE has increased spending on “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing” by more than 600 percent compared to 2024 levels.

New spending in the small arms category from January 20, 2025, the day Trump was inaugurated, through October 18, totaled $71,515,762. Most of the spending was on guns and armor, but there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons. (While the records indicated a purchase of “guided missile warheads and explosive components,” Wired is now reporting that this may have been due to a clerical error.)

On September 29, 2025, ICE made a $9,098,590 purchase from Geissele Automatics, which sells........

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