New data reveals nearly 40% of immigrants arrested by ICE had no criminal record at all, contradicting administration claims about targeting “worst of the worst”

A shocking new Department of Homeland Security document reveals a stark truth about immigration enforcement under President Trump’s second term: less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in the past year had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses. Even more striking, nearly 40% of those arrested had no criminal record whatsoever.

These statistics, obtained exclusively by CBS News, directly contradict the Trump administration’s repeated claims that its immigration crackdown primarily targets dangerous criminals—what officials have called the “worst of the worst.” Instead, the data paints a picture of mass deportation operations sweeping up immigrants regardless of criminal history, with civil immigration violations serving as the primary justification for arrest.

The numbers tell a story that challenges the narrative Americans have been hearing from the White House. While President Trump and his officials frequently invoke images of murderers, rapists, and gang members when discussing immigration enforcement, the reality on the ground looks dramatically different.

The Numbers Behind the Arrests

According to the internal DHS document, ICE made approximately 393,000 arrests between January 21, 2025—Trump’s first full day back in office—and January 31, 2026. Breaking down these arrests reveals troubling patterns about who’s actually being targeted.

The criminal record breakdown shows:

• Less than 2% had homicide or sexual assault charges or convictions
• 2% were accused of being gang members
• Nearly 40% had no criminal record at all, facing only civil immigration violations
• About 60% had some form of criminal charge or conviction, but the majority were for non-violent offenses

The data indicates that among those with criminal histories, the most common offenses were driving under the influence and other traffic violations—hardly the violent predators administration officials describe in press conferences and social media posts.

“Despite what the media and Democrats claim, 70 percent of all ICE arrests are of illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S.,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin claimed in November. However, this statistic obscures a critical fact: having any criminal charge doesn’t mean someone is dangerous or violent.

A Dramatic Shift in Enforcement Strategy

The scale of arrests represents more than triple the number ICE made during fiscal year 2024 under the Biden administration. But it’s not just the quantity that’s changed—it’s who’s being arrested.

Analysis by the Deportation Data Project found that arrests of people with no criminal record surged by an astounding 2,450% in Trump’s first year. This dramatic increase was driven by changes in tactics, including:

• “At-large” arrests in communities
• Roving patrols in neighborhoods
• Worksite raids
• Re-arrests of people attending immigration court hearings or ICE check-ins

Perhaps most telling, the percentage of ICE arrestees with no criminal record jumped from just 6% in January 2025 to 41% by December of the same year, according to data from the American Immigration Council.

Street Arrests Skyrocket

One of the most significant changes under the Trump administration has been the explosion of “street arrests”—ICE agents apprehending people in their communities rather than transferring them from jails or prisons.

Before 2025, ICE arrests were mostly custody transfers from criminal justice facilities. In 2025, street arrests increased by more than 11 times, according to the Deportation Data Project. This represents a fundamental shift in how immigration enforcement operates in America.

These street arrests have become increasingly visible and controversial. ICE agents, often wearing plainclothes and facial coverings, conduct operations at:

• Home Depot parking lots where day laborers gather
• Neighborhoods and residential areas
• Workplaces during raids
• Immigration court buildings and ICE check-in appointments

The aggressive tactics have led to tragic consequences, including the fatal shootings of two Americans by ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, prompting the administration to pull 700 officers from the city.

The “Worst of the Worst” Myth

The Trump administration has built its immigration enforcement narrative around protecting Americans from dangerous criminals. DHS even launched a “Worst of the Worst” website to showcase examples of violent criminals arrested by ICE.

“In President Trump’s first year in office, ICE law enforcement relentlessly targeted the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens across our country,” a DHS spokesperson stated in December 2025.

But the data tells a different story. According to analysis by the libertarian Cato Institute, among those with criminal convictions detained by ICE, only 8% were convicted of violent or property crimes. Just 5% had violent criminal convictions specifically.

“I think when you listen to senior leaders in the Trump administration, what they’re saying is that they’re arresting what they’re calling the, quote, worst of the worst,” said Graeme Blair, associate professor of political science at UCLA and co-director of the Deportation Data Project. “And I think that that just really doesn’t tell the story of what they’re doing.”

Who’s Really Being Arrested?

The internal DHS document provides a detailed breakdown of the most serious charges or convictions for those arrested:

Violent crime arrests (totaling about 13.9% of all arrests):

• 2,100 arrests for homicide charges or convictions
• 5,400 arrests for sexual assault charges or convictions
• 43,000 arrests for assault charges or convictions
• 2,700 arrests for robbery offenses
• 1,100 arrests for kidnapping charges or convictions

Other criminal arrests:

• 22,600 arrests for dangerous drug charges or convictions
• 29,700 arrests for driving under the influence
• 6,100 arrests for weapons offenses
• 5,000 arrests for burglary charges or convictions
• 7,500 arrests (1.9%) for alleged gang membership

Non-criminal arrests:

• 153,000 arrests (nearly 40%) of people with no criminal record at all

The remaining 118,000 arrestees had criminal charges or convictions for “other” crimes, which could include immigration-related offenses like illegal entry (a misdemeanor for first-time offenders) or illegal reentry after deportation (a felony).

Detention Conditions Worsen as System Expands

The rapid expansion of arrests has strained an already troubled detention system. According to the American Immigration Council, the number of people held in ICE detention rose nearly 75% in 2025, climbing from roughly 40,000 at the start of the year to 66,000 by early December—the highest level ever recorded.

To accommodate this surge, ICE has:

• Opened over 100 additional detention facilities since the start of the year
• Constructed hastily-built tent camps with brutal conditions
• Tripled the number of detention beds used for people arrested within the United States

The consequences have been deadly. More people died in ICE detention in 2025 than in the previous four years combined, according to the American Immigration Council report.

“The detention system has expanded so rapidly that already deleterious conditions have worsened,” the report states. “For the first time ever, thousands of immigrants arrested in the interior are being detained in hastily-constructed tent camps, where conditions are brutal.”

Due Process Stripped Away

New Trump administration policies have made prolonged, indefinite detention the norm rather than the exception. The administration is pursuing policies that would strip millions of people of the right to have a bond hearing—even those who have lived in the United States for decades.

The data shows this strategy is working to pressure people into giving up their cases:

• For every person released from ICE detention in November 2025, more than 14 were deported directly from custody
• This compares to an approximate one-to-two ratio a year earlier under Biden
• The rate of deportation within 60 days of detention rose from 55% to 69%
• Voluntary departures increased by 21 times as people chose to leave rather than fight their cases from detention

“This has absolutely nothing to do with law and order,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. “Under mass deportation, we’re seeing the construction of a mass immigration detention system on a scale the United States has never seen, in which people with no criminal record are routinely locked up with no clear path to release.”

Public Opinion Shifts

While Trump’s deportation program enjoyed majority support during the 2024 presidential campaign and his early months in office, public opinion has shifted significantly.

A CBS News poll in January 2026 found that Americans’ support for Trump’s deportation efforts had fallen to 46%, down from 59% at the start of his second term. Just over 60% of those surveyed said immigration agents were being “too tough.”

This shift appears driven by concerns about:

• Aggressive tactics used by ICE and Border Patrol agents
• Fatal shootings of American citizens during enforcement operations
• Stories of families torn apart despite having no criminal history
• Racial profiling and civil rights violations

The Human Cost

Behind the statistics are real people whose lives have been upended. The American Immigration Council report profiles several cases that illustrate the human impact:

• A green card holder and father of two, detained at an airport because of a past conviction he was told wouldn’t jeopardize his legal status, whose medical issues were neglected for months
• An asylum seeker granted humanitarian protection by an immigration judge who remains detained months later without explanation
• A DACA recipient transferred repeatedly across the country as ICE searched for bed space, witnessing consistently poor conditions

Thousands more have simply disappeared from ICE records, their whereabouts unknown. As of late 2025, approximately 4,250 people were reported missing from ICE custody, including 3,000 in Illinois alone.

What This Means for America

The data reveals a deportation system that has strayed far from its stated mission of protecting public safety. Instead of targeting dangerous criminals, ICE is conducting mass arrests that sweep up anyone without legal immigration status, regardless of their ties to the community, criminal history, or potential legal claims.

“The Trump administration continues to falsely claim it’s going after the ‘worst of the worst,’ but public safety is just a pretext for locking up immigrants and pushing them to abdicate their cases,” said Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council.

With Congress having authorized $45 billion in new detention funding, the system could more than triple in size over the next four years. This would make immigration detention rival the entire federal criminal prison system in scale.

“This is a system built to produce deportations, not justice,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “When detention becomes the default response to immigration cases, the costs are borne by everyone. Families are torn apart, due process is set aside, and billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted on these unnecessary and cruel policies that do nothing to increase public safety.”

Conclusion

The internal DHS data obtained by CBS News provides the clearest picture yet of Trump’s immigration enforcement priorities—and it contradicts nearly every claim the administration has made about targeting violent criminals.

With less than 14% of arrests involving people with violent crime records and nearly 40% involving people with no criminal record at all, the data shows a deportation machine operating with little regard for actual public safety threats. Instead, the system appears designed to maximize arrests and deportations regardless of individual circumstances.

As this enforcement apparatus continues to expand, Americans must grapple with fundamental questions about who we are as a nation: Do we want a system that separates families and detains people indefinitely based solely on civil immigration violations? Are we comfortable with the erosion of due process protections and the normalization of mass detention? And most importantly, are we willing to accept the human and financial costs of a deportation system that prioritizes numbers over justice?

The data suggests we’re building something unprecedented in American history—and it’s worth asking whether this is the country we want to become.

What are your thoughts on these ICE arrest statistics? Have you or someone you know been affected by immigration enforcement? Share your story in the comments below and help us continue this important conversation.