Alaska

As ICE arrests surge in Alaska, advocates step up to support detainees

Published

5 months ago

October 10, 2025

As ICE arrests surge in Alaska, advocates step up to support detainees

Jessica Sunigaq Ullrich was at home last week waiting for a contractor to come fix her countertops when she heard yelling outside. She stepped out to see what was happening.

“I was definitely concerned,” Ullrich said. “And it wasn’t long after that I saw them walking this young man wearing a red hoodie towards a vehicle.”

The man Ullrich had hired is one of at least 56 people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Alaska so far this year — more than the previous two years combined. There were a total of 13 ICE arrests in Alaska in 2024, while there were 20 in 2023, according to the Alaska Department of Corrections. The dramatic increase comes as the Trump administration intensifies its nationwide crackdown on immigration.

Wesley Early

Alaska Public Media

Jessica Suniqag Ullrich recentely shared a video of an ICE arrest that occurred in front of her home on Oct. 3, 2025.

Some residents, like Ullrich, say the surge in arrests is deeply troubling and they’re stepping up to support detainees. Ullrich said while she had heard about ICE officers arresting people across the country, she was shocked to see a detention up close. She recorded it and posted the video to Facebook, where it was shared hundreds of times.

“It felt like I was watching a government-endorsed kidnapping, essentially,” Ullrich said. “And I couldn’t believe, I didn’t feel prepared for what I was witnessing in Anchorage, Alaska, in my neighborhood, in my front yard.”

Anchorage immigration attorney Nicholas Olano said he expects the number of ICE detentions in Alaska to balloon as the agency receives billions more in federal funding.

“This is the horrible and sad truth is that those pickups and those arrests are following the law as it is written,” Olano said. “And if we are shocked by this, we need to change the law.”

In the meantime, he said there are ways people can support detainees including following Ullrich’s example by recording arrests.

“That’s great because we’re holding everybody accountable,” Olano said. “These officers, we’re making sure that they’re doing their job right, that they’re not pushing or abusing somebody.”

Olano said public advocacy is another way to garner support for detainees.

The day after Ullrich posted her video, she attended a shareholder meeting for the Bering Straits Regional Corporation. She told fellow shareholders about her concerns over the corporation’s investment in Global Precision Systems LLC, a company affiliated with several ICE detention centers in Texas and Arizona.

“I felt compelled to share what I witnessed,” Ullrich said, “and to ask at the annual meeting that was scheduled for the very next morning if we as shareholders and whether the board of directors could consider divesting from companies like this that are profiting off of what feels like the torment of human beings.”

Ullrich said she wonders if the topic of Native corporations divesting from detention centers should be raised at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention next week.

“I’ve been informed there are multiple Alaska Native corporations that are connected with detention centers,” Ullrich said. “And that’s an issue, I feel like, in terms of that alignment with values and us ensuring that we’re not part of the harm of our Indigenous relatives from Central and South America.”

Anchorage immigration attorney Nicolas Olano

Olano said financial support is another critical way to support detainees and their families. Since July, he has represented the family of Paola Guzman, a housecleaner who was detained by ICE in Anchorage and sent to a detention center in Tacoma, Wash. Guzman’s son, Aldo Coyotl, said his mother has lived in Alaska for more than 20 years and, one day in July, several cars barricaded her in as she parked, on her way to a cleaning job.

“Once you know it, all of them are around her,” Coyotl said. “And so she’s just in her car, terrified, and when they knock on her window, they show that they already have a court order and that they have her warrant for her arrest.”

Olano said Guzman did not have proper immigration documents. He said ordinarily, people who have been detained for entering the U.S. unlawfully would be able to post a bond to get released, but he ran into issues trying to pay Guzman’s bond.

“We ran into a new policy by the Tacoma immigration judges of denying bond for people who had crossed the border in the United States at any point,” Olano said. “This was something completely new.”

Olano challenged the judge’s decision that Guzman couldn’t post her bond, and a court ruled in her favor last week. All the while, Olano said legal and other associated fees made the ordeal expensive.

“A call from the Tacoma Detention Center is $8 a minute,” Olanos said. “These rates are not even 1980s long distance rates. That’s absurd.”

Anchorage resident Rebecca Rogers started a GoFundMe to support the family of Paola Guzman after Guzman as detained by ICE officials in July.

In order to help support Guzman, her friend Rebecca Rogers started a GoFundMe to help cover some of those fees. Rogers has known Guzman for more than 20 years, and said she’s a valuable community member.

“She was a hockey mom, a school mom, involved in her church,” Rogers said. “And I just grew to care for her very much.”

Rogers said she hopes that residents realize the hardships their fellow community members are going through.

“I think if people are paying attention, they realize that the people we care about, many of them who may not have their paperwork in place, are just vulnerable to a pretty vindictive, kind of crazy, insane system,” she said

The $16,000 raised in the online fundraiser, in part, helped to cover Guzman’s legal fees and bond.

Guzman was reunited with her family in Anchorage this week. Olano said Guzman will still have to appear before an immigration judge to hear her case, and he expects the process will take years.

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Alaska

Alaska House advances bill to boost free legal aid for vulnerable Alaskans

Published

7 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Alaska House advances bill to boost free legal aid for vulnerable Alaskans

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Zip Code

Country

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Alaska

Marten visits are a glimpse into mystery

Published

19 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Marten visits are a glimpse into mystery

A trapper fresh out of the Cosna River country in Interior Alaska said he can’t believe how many martens he had caught in a small area so far this winter.

Friends are talking about the house-cat size creatures visiting their wood piles and porches. Could this be a boom in the number of these handsome woodland creatures?

Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute. Portions of this story appeared in 2000.

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Alaska

Alaska Sports Scoreboard: Feb. 28, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

High school

Basketball

Girls

Monday

Kenai Central 63, Nikiski 33

Colony 68, Grace Christian 46

Tuesday

South 33, East 22

Service 62, Dimond 47

Redington 47, Houston 17

Wasilla 60, Mountain City Christian Academy 44

Kenai Central 54, Homer 27

Bartlett 53, Chugiak 29

Mt. Edgecumbe 59, Sitka 50

Wednesday

Shishmaref 82, Aniguiin 34

Shaktoolik 73, Anthony Andrews 25

Savoonga 61, White Mountain 56

Glennallen 68, Nenana 26

Seward 72, Houston 8

Service 65, South 26

Brevig Mission 65, Koyuk Malimiut 47

Chief Ivan Blunka 67, Manokotak 30

Thursday

White Mountain 76, Anthony Andrews 50

Hoonah 44, Skagway 21

Koyuk Malimiut 53, Aniguiin 51

Nunamiut 74, Kali 17

Glennallen 25, Delta 20

Birchwood Christian 42, Nanwalek 24

Ninilchik 33, Lumen Christi 30

Dimond 59, Chugiak 54

Shaktoolik 57, Savoonga 24

Colony 43, Mountain City Christian 41

Alak 67, Meade River 66

Lathrop 42, West Valley 34

Seward 78, Nikiski 32

Grace Christian 56, Soldotna 41

Kenai Central 56, Houston 10

Wasilla 72, Palmer 27

Bristol Bay 55, Chief Ivan Blunka 30

Nome-Beltz 33, Bethel 24

Scammon Bay 46, Ignatius Beans 28

Aniak 83, Akiachak 45

Shishmaref 53, Brevig Mission 51

Metlakatla 64, Haines 21

Friday

Chief Ivan Blunka 68, Togiak 38

Meade River 80, Nuiqsut Trapper 34

Nunamiut 68, Alak 50

Cook Inlet Academy 33, Birchwood Christian 32

Meade River 71, Kali 46

Kalskag 62, Akiachak 47

Hoonah 39, Kake 37

Soldotna 36, Palmer 23

Delta 54, Valdez 45

Unalakleet 61, Chevak 45

Minto 46, Hutchison 26

West 71, Bartlett 65

Seward 63, Homer 19

North Pole 61, West Valley 25

Newhalen 78, Chief Ivan Blunka 40

Birchwood Christian 43, Nanwalek 28

Bethel 42, Nome-Beltz 35

Aniak 65, Tuluksak 50

Scammon Bay 49, St. Mary’s 38

Monroe Catholic 84, Galena 42

Ketchikan 57, Redington 24

Meade River 69, Alak 62

Fort Yukon 60, Jimmy Huntington 19

Grace Christian 50, Kenai Central 45

Shaktoolik 44, Shishmaref 34

Wrangell 44, Petersburg 31

Saturday

Unalakleet 41, Chevak 37

Meade River 54, Nunamiut 51

Monroe Catholic 68, Galena 32

Newhalen 32, Bristol Bay 26

Cook Inlet Academy 65, Birchwood Christian 32

Soldotna 55, Palmer 42

Nunamiut 48, Meade River 46

Boys

Sunday

SISD 51, Yakutat 18

Monday

Eagle River 54, Birchwood Christian 52

Colony 69, Grace Christian 64

Kenai Central 68, Nikiski 30

Tuesday

Susitna Valley 48, Lumen Christi 46

Dimond 54, Service 47

South 50, East 46

Houston 53, Redington 40

Wasilla 63, Mountain City Christian Academy 50

Kenai Central 74, Homer 47

Chugiak 66, Bartlett 45

Wednesday

SISD 59, Yakutat 17

Shishmaref 85, Savoonga 45

Hydaburg 58, Hoonah 51

Shaktoolik 103, Martin L Olson 49

Skagway 68, Gustavus 24

Davis-Romoth 108, Kobuk 31

Klawock 68, SISD 27

Glennallen 61, Nenana 57

Gambell 46, James C Isabell 31

South 63, Service 60

Seward 81, Houston 73

Bristol Bay 80, Chief Ivan Blunka 61

Mt. Edgecumbe 68, Sitka 59

Scammon Bay 79, Ignatius Beans 34

Brevig Mission 73, Aniguiin 67

Thursday

Savoonga 69, James C Isabell 61

Hoonah 64, Yakutat 45

Alak 88, Meade River 38

Shaktoolik 110, Brevig Mission 30

Chief Ivan Blunka 62, Tanalian 39

Nunamiut 66, Kali 48

Davis-Romoth 91, Buckland 45

Ninilchik 83, Lumen Christi 38

Monroe Catholic 43, North Pole 42

King Cove 57, Bristol Bay 41

Metlakatla 52, Haines 46

Nome-Beltz 62, Bethel 45

Skagway 79, Angoon 30

Birchwood Christian 69, Nanwalek 63

Dimond 60, Chugiak 57

Colony 75, Mountain City Christian Academy 49

Wasilla 66, Palmer 40

Klawock 63, Hydaburg 49

Shishmaref 58, Gambell 47

Grace Christian 63, Soldotna 52

Seward 66, Nikiski 51

Kenai Central 61, Houston 48

Nuiqsut Trapper 64, Alak 51

West Valley 51, Lathrop 44

Akiachak 83, Akiak 64

Scammon Bay 62, Marshall 54

Friday

Hoonah 71, SISD 38

Hydaburg 61, Kake 50

Chief Ivan Blunka 73, Bristol Bay 68

Kali 63, Meade River 45

Nunamiut 80, Nuiqsut Trapper 62

Service 58, East 50

Angoon 61, Hoonah 56

Cook Inlet Academy 73, Birchwood Christian 34

King Cove 75, Newhalen 39

Petersburg 53, Wrangell 20

Skagway 46, Klawock 43

Metlakatla 50, Haines 42

Nome-Beltz 71, Bethel 43

Juneau-Douglas 67, Tri-Valley 45

Wasilla 73, Chugiak 43

West 83, Bartlett 36

Colony 73, Kodiak 32

Delta 62, Valdez 54

West Valley 72, North Pole 46

Palmer 57, Soldotna 47

Nenana 55, Cordova 53

Chief Ivan Blunka 63, Manokotak 48

Scammon Bay 67, St. Mary’s 54

Unalakleet 87, Chevak 64

Shaktoolik 73, Shishmaref 54

Saturday

Unalakleet 95, Chevak 44

Cook Inlet Academy 95, Birchwood Christian 50

South 73, Eagle River 35

Palmer 45, Soldotna 40

• • •

College

Hockey

Friday

UAF 2, UAA 0

Saturday

UAA vs. UAF (Late)

• • •

Women’s basketball

Thursday

UAA 79, Western Oregon 58

Saint Martin’s 99, UAF 59

Saturday

Western Oregon 73, UAF 58

UAA vs. Saint Martin’s (Late)

• • •

Men’s basketball

Thursday

Saint Martin’s 77, UAF 65

UAA 80, Western Oregon 59

Saturday

UAF 82, Western Oregon 74

UAA vs. Saint Martin’s (Late)

• • •

NAHL

Friday

Anchorage Wolverines 5, Chippewa Steel 4

Saturday

Anchorage Wolverines vs. Chippewa Steel (Late)

• • •

2026 Fur Rondy Frostbite Footrace

5K Women

1. Courtney Spann, Anchorage, AK 26:05; 2. Racheal Kerr, Alakanuk, AK 26:07; 3. Anne-Marie Meyer, Yakima, WA 27:06; 4. Riann Anderson, Anchorage, AK 27:09; 5. Nevaeh Dunlap, Anchorage, AK 27:47; 6. Rita McKenzie, Anchorage, AK 27:55; 7. Marta Burke, Anchorage, AK 28:08; 8. Rachel Penney, Eagle River, AK 29:24; 9. Victoria Grant, Eagle River, AK 29:33; 10. Gretchen Klein, Craig, AK 29:36; 11. Penny Wasem, Willow, AK 29:42; 12. Chantel Van Tress, JBER, AK 29:51; 13. Janet Johnston, Anchorage, AK 30:18; 14. Dianna Clemetson, Anchorage, AK 31:33; 15. Sarah Hoepfner, Anchorage, AK 32:02; 16. Ireland Hicks, Seward, AK 33:21; 17. Lilly Schoonover, Seward, AK 33:21; 18. Suzanne Smerjac, Anchorage, AK 33:32; 19. Mindy Perdue, Wasilla, AK 34:12; 20. Oxana Bystrova, Anchorage, AK 34:23; 21. Charlene Canino, Anchorage, AK 34:49; 22. Tami Todd, Wasilla, AK 34:50; 23. Kaiena Tuiloma, Anchorage, AK 34:57; 24. Meg Kurtagh, Anchorage, AK 35:05; 25. Larue Groves, Chugiak, AK 35:13; 26. Rose Van Hemert, Anchorage, AK 36:12; 27. Morgan Daniels, Crestview, FL 36:25; 28. Elle Kauppi, Anchorage, AK 37:31; 29. Miranda Gibson, Wasilla, AK 37:46; 30. Caroline Secoy, JBER, AK 37:46; 31. Jordyn McNeil, Palmer, AK 38:29; 32. Ryan Plant, Palmer, AK 38:30; 33. Samantha Williams, Anchorage, AK 39:00; 34. Wendy Heck, Willow, AK 39:33; 35. Stephanie Kesler, Anchorage, AK 43:29; 36. Denise Wright, Anchorage, AK 43:50; 37. Brie Flores, Anchorage, AK 46:14; 38. Anabell Lewis, Anchorage, AK 46:15; 39. Jessica Lose, Anchorage, AK 46:18; 40. Kaylie Bylsma, Anchorage, AK 46:18; 41. Alicyn Giannakos, Anchorage, AK 46:38; 42. Natasha Henderson, Anchorage, AK 46:39; 43. Shannon Thompson, Anchorage, AK 48:40; 44. Heather Holcomb, Palmer, AK 48:40; 45. Debora Milligan, Iron Mountain, MI 57:36; 46. Rondy McKee, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, 57:37

5K Men

1. James Miller, Anchorage, AK 18:28; 2. Barefoot Bogey, Woburn, MA 18:37; 3. Keaden Dunlap, Anchorage, AK 19:22; 4. Maximus Tagle-Martinez, JBER, AK 20:03; 5. Gavin Hanks, Eagle River, AK 20:59; 6. Patrick McAnally, Anchorage, AK 21:37; 7. Anthony Gomez, Anchorage, AK 22:37; 8. Christopher Hilliard, JBER, AK 23:20; 9. Terry Schimon, University Place, WA 23:37; 10. Ryan Moldenhauer, Anchorage, AK 24:12; 11. Matthew Haney, Anchorage, AK 24:24; 12. Dan Burke, Anchorage, AK 25:44; 13. Paul Chandanabhumma, Seattle, WA 25:52; 14. Woods Miller, Wasilla, AK 26:51; 15. Bill Grether, Anchorage, AK 27:10; 16. Charles Simmons, Anchorage, AK 27:15; 17. Jacob Cassianni, Anchorage, AK 27:32; 18. John Brewer, Anchorage, AK 28:09; 19. Dustin Whitcomb, Eagle River, AK 28:14; 20. Greg MacDonald, Anchorage, AK 28:28; 21. Kevin Redmond, Anchorage, AK 28:38; 22. Olin Jensen, Anchorage, AK 28:45; 23. Michael Loughlin, Anchorage, AK 29:18; 24. Daryl Schaffer, Anchorage, AK 30:30; 25. Aaron Paul, Anchorage, AK 30:37; 26. Mark Ireland, Anchorage, AK 30:37; 27. Christopher Pineda, Eagle River, AK 30:39; 28. Eric Jostsons, Anchorage, AK 31:07; 29. Justin Fitzgerald, Anchorage, AK 31:36; 30. Steve Lambert, Anchorage, AK 32:09; 31. Justin Atteberry, Anchorage, AK 32:21; 32. Matthew Beardsley, Anchorage, AK 34:07; 33. Caleb Penney, Eagle River, AK 34:21; 34. Evgenii Ivanov, Anchorage, AK 34:22; 35. Eliezer Rivera, Anchorage, AK 35:12; 36. David Massey, Anchorage, AK 35:38; 37. Zachary Todd, Wasilla, AK 35:39; 38. Ed Hills, Anchorage, AK 36:52; 39. Chucky Williams, Anchorage, AK 36:54; 40. Rick Taylor, Wasilla, AK 39:32; 41. Steven Shamburek, Anchorage, AK 43:48; 42. Dave Jones, Anchorage, AK 46:46; 43. Tom Meacham, Anchorage, AK 46:47; 44. Russell Martin, Ventura, CA 47:34; 45. David Martin, Ventura, CA 47:45; 46. Zachary Lounsberry, Palmer, AK 48:41

2.5K Women

1. Kelsey Kramer, Wilmington, NC 13:50; 2. Alannah Dunlap, Anchorage, AK 15:09; 3. Kelsea Johnson, Anchorage, AK 15:45; 4. Kirsten Kling, Anchorage, AK 16:05; 5. Miriam Hayes, Anchorage, AK 16:55; 6. Brianna Slayback, Anchorage, AK 17:04; 7. Haley Hoffman, Alexandria, VA 18:01; 8. Kathryn Hoke, Anchorage, AK 18:32; 9. Rachel Stein, Palmer, AK 18:51; 10. Shayla Harrison, Anchorage, AK 19:29; 11. Danielle Harrison, Anchorage, AK 19:30; 12. Nikki Withers, Tacoma, WA 19:32; 13. Michele Robuck, Anchorage, AK 20:20; 14. Jess Adams, Anchorage, AK 20:20; 15. Ashley Martinez, Miami, FL 20:24; 16. Laura Casanover, Houston, TX 20:31; 17. Adylaine Hacker, Eagle River, AK 21:59; 18. Mary Stutzman, Tallahassee, FL 22:59; 19. Jean Bielawski, Anchorage, AK 23:24; 20. Cheryl Parmelee, Mount Dora, FL 25:45; 21. Ruth Anderson, Anchorage, AK 26:56; 22. Morgan Withers, Tacoma, WA 27:17; 23. Terri Agee, Anchorage, AK 27:31; 24. Chyll Perry, Anchorage, AK 27:35; 25. Denice Withers, Yakima, WA 28:09; 26. Sarah Camacho, Anchorage, AK 28:20; 27. Katheryn Camacho, Anchorage, AK 28:21; 28. Brooke Whitcomb, Eagle River, AK 28:41; 29. Kristine Withers, Tacoma, WA 31:19; 30. Penny Helgeson, Anchorage, AK 33:56; 31. Kimberly Halstead, Eagle River, AK 34:02; 32. Julianna Halstead, Eagle River, AK 34:09

2.5K Men

1. Riley Howard, Anchorage, AK 10:54; 2. Julian Salao, Anchorage, AK 12:26; 3. Mitch Paisker, Anchorage, AK 16:05; 4. Kaden Bartholomew, Anchorage, AK 16:24; 5. Brandon Bartholomew, Anchorage, AK 16:25; 6. Michael Hayes, Anchorage, AK 16:30; 7. Calvin Stein, Anchorage, AK 18:51; 8. Jesse Ackerson, Anchorage, AK 19:42; 9. Clinton Hacker, Eagle River, AK 21:59; 10. Daniel Hjortstorp, Gakona, AK 22:20; 11. Atlas Hjortstorp, Gakona, AK 22:20; 12. Craig Withers, Tacoma, WA 27:18; 13. Jordan Ralph, Tacoma, WA 27:19; 14. Scott King, Anchorage, AK 28:20; 15. Shawn Withers, Yakima, WA 31:18; 16. John Ruthe, Anchorage, AK 35:53

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