A gunman attacked a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, killing one person and critically injuring two others before taking his own life.

The incident is just the latest in a series of attacks on ICE facilities amid widespread outrage over the agency’s recent, often “military-style” raids and arrests of undocumented migrants and some legal residents or visitors. This is part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to crack down on undocumented people in the US.

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The Department of Homeland Security said security at all ICE facilities across the US has been ramped up following the shooting.

Authorities identified Joshua Jahn, 29, as the attacker, but have not released the victims’ identities. The shooter’s motives are yet unknown, although the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced it is treating the attack as an act of “targeted violence”.

Here’s what we know about the attacks on ICE facilities and personnel in recent months.

What happened in Texas?

On Wednesday morning, about 6:40am local time (11:40 GMT), 29-year-old Joshua Jahn opened fire with a bolt-action rifle at an ICE facility southwest of Dallas Love Field airport, which serves the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

Acting ICE director Todd Lyons confirmed the suspect’s age and identity following the shooting.

One detainee was killed, and two others who were inside an ICE transport van at a gated entryway were critically injured. No officials were injured.

The suspect died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot, officials said.

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Later on Wednesday, police vans were reported to have gathered at a suburban home in Dallas linked to the suspect.

What do we know about the shooter and his motive?

Ryan Anderson, a legal cannabis farm owner who claimed to have hired Jahn in 2017, told AP that the suspect was a “young kid” who usually “kept his head down and stayed working”.

Jahn was arrested and fined for delivering marijuana in 2015, according to public records.

His motive has not been confirmed, but FBI Special Agent Joe Rothrock told a news conference, “I can confirm at this time that the FBI is investigating this incident as an act of targeted violence.”

In a post on social media site X on Wednesday, FBI director Kash Patel shared images of what he said were spent shells from the scene of the shooting, with one engraved with the word: ANTI-ICE. Patel said initial evidence revealed “an ideological motive,” and called the shooting a “despicable, politically motivated” attack.

However, Jahn’s brother, Noah, 30, who lives in McKinney, Texas – about 48km (30 miles) north of Dallas – told news agency Reuters that he was unaware of his brother having any negative feelings towards ICE. “I didn’t know he had any political intent at all,” he was quoted as saying.

Have attacks on ICE agents and facilities become more frequent?

The Trump administration says they have.

Wednesday’s shooting is just the latest in a series of attacks that appear to target ICE facilities and officers since the agency ramped up controversial mass arrests and deportations under Trump.

According to a statement earlier this week from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE officials are experiencing “a more than 1,000 percent increase in assaults”. This includes: vehicles being used as weapons, driving towards ICE officials, and online “doxing” campaigns (revealing someone’s personal details and address) against ICE officials and their families.

Dallas, Texas

Before Wednesday’s shooting, a 36-year-old identified as Bratton Dean Wilkinson was arrested on August 26 at the Dallas ICE facility after he claimed he had a bomb detonator in his backpack, the DHS said.

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Alvarado, Texas

On July 4, several people wearing black, military-style clothing opened fire outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, in what officials called a “planned ambush” that left one police officer wounded after being shot in the neck.

The attackers attempted to draw ICE officers out of the facility by first setting off fireworks and spray painting “traitor” and “ICE pig” on cars and a guard post at the facility, officials said.

As correction officials engaged the group, someone standing in the nearby woods appeared to signal with a flashlight before shots were fired from the same direction.

A second assailant across the street shot 20-30 rounds at the officials, officials said. An AR-style rifle and a flag emblazoned with the words, “resist fascism, fight oligarchy”, as well as flyers reading “Fight ICE terror with class war”, were found near the centre, officials said.

Ten people have since been arrested in connection with the shooting.

McAllen, Texas

On July 7, a shooter identified as 27-year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda fired dozens of shots at agents exiting a US Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, located close to the US-Mexico border.

Three officers were injured, and the suspect was shot and killed by officials. Authorities also said that Mosqueda’s father claimed that his son had mental health issues. More weapons and ammunition were found in a car the suspect had driven to the crime scene, officials said.

Broadview, Illinois

This week, an ICE facility in Broadview, near Chicago, erected tall wire fences to prevent protesters who had been arriving at the site since Friday last week from getting too close or from blocking ICE vehicles transporting detainees.

At least 16 protesters have been arrested after clashing with officials at the scene. Some have been charged with assaulting federal officers.

Officials have also accused the protesters of throwing rocks and fireworks towards the facility. Over the weekend, demonstrators and journalists were hit with pepper balls and tear gas, according to CBS News.

How many arrests has ICE made in recent months?

As of September 7, ICE and officials of the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) were holding 58,766 people in detention across the US, according to TRAC, a monitoring project by Syracuse University.

By contrast, 37,395 people were detained across the country in early September last year.

ICE is also monitoring another 181,401 individuals and families who have been released, but whose cases are still being reviewed.

Most of these people were detained in Texas, Louisiana, California, Georgia and Arizona, according to TRAC data. About 70 percent of current detainees have no criminal conviction, and those who do have largely committed minor offences, TRAC reported.

Trump promised to crack down on migration before he won last year’s presidential election. The recent spate of raids and arrests is the fulfilment of his promise of mass deportations, the Trump administration says.

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Why have ICE arrests caused controversy?

Arresting officers and agents are frequently accused of indiscriminately picking people up in the streets and of being overly heavy-handed in apprehending and detaining people.

ICE has also targeted legal residents, such as Mahmoud Khalil, who led protests at Columbia University last year against Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. An immigration judge ordered his deportation to Syria last week after finding him guilty of failing to disclose key information when he applied for and secured lawful permanent residency in the US.

According to the National Immigration Law Center, the administration is actively targeting people with legal residency, or a US green card, because of political activity or past crimes – even minor ones such as possessing marijuana.

Authorities are additionally reportedly monitoring the social media of green card holders.

Under US law, ICE can detain and deport legal residents if they pose a “national security threat” or if they are involved in drug, gun or more serious felonies, or make false claims to obtain citizenship.

Agents often wear masks and fail to reveal their identities during arrest, which some critics equate with “kidnapping”. Under US federal law, officials are required to disclose their identity and agency during arrests.

On its website, however, ICE states that its agents do not legally need judicial warrants to arrest suspected undocumented persons. The agency also states that officials wear masks to prevent doxing and to protect themselves and their families from being identified and targeted by criminal gangs.

On September 20, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed the No Secret Police Act into law to ban ICE or law enforcement agents from masking up during arrests. The DHS has opposed this, with Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin saying in a statement on September 22, “To be crystal clear: we will not abide by Newsom’s unconstitutional ban.”

How have Republicans and Democrats responded to the ICE attacks?

The attacks have deepened the political divide between Republicans and Democrats in the US. Republican politicians and top officials of the Trump administration blame the ICE attacks on what they call “extreme left-wing rhetoric” coming from Democrats.

In a post to his Truth Social site on Wednesday, Trump wrote, “This violence is the result of the Radical Left Democrats constantly demonizing Law Enforcement, calling for ICE to be demolished, and comparing ICE Officers to ‘Nazis’.”

In an address following the attack, Vice President JD Vance claimed that the shooter was a “violent left-wing extremist.”

He said, “They were politically motivated to go after people who are enforcing our border, and I think that is the most disgusting thing. The very people who keep us safe ought to be honoured and protected and praised by Democrats and Republicans alike. It is time to stop the rhetorical assault on law enforcement.”

Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz echoed this. “To every politician who is using rhetoric demonising ICE and demonising CBP [Customs and Border Protection]: Stop,” Cruz told reporters on Wednesday, while also invoking the recent assassination of right-wing figure Charlie Kirk.

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Meanwhile, Democrats have accused Republicans of ignoring the fact that the victims on Wednesday were, in fact, migrants, and not law officials. Many have urged the government to focus on tightening gun laws.

“I don’t trust anything that’s happening out of that agency at all,” Texas Democrat congressman Marc Veasey told local news website Notus on Wednesday. “I don’t trust them at all. They’re overly political.”

Vaesey added that he was “sickened” by the lack of information on the dead and two wounded victims. “If there are two victims that are migrants, they need to be acknowledged,” he was quoted as saying.

Democrat Pennsylvania representative Summer Lee also accused Republicans of distortion. “Leave it to this administration to use a shooting against immigrant detainees to score political points and further provoke violence,” she wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.