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Newly released data contradicts the justification Donald Trump has offered for extensive immigration crackdowns in cities nationwide.
Trump and his Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem have frequently stated that ICE raids in Democratic-run cities have targeted serious criminals, “the worst of the worst.”
However, new data on those arrests published by the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by The New York Times found that that does not appear to be the case.
- New data shows over half of arrested immigrants in key cities had no criminal record, challenging Trump’s claim of targeting 'the worst of the worst.'
- In D.C., 84% of immigration arrests between August and September involved individuals with no prior convictions.
- The share of ICE detainees with criminal convictions dropped nationally from 46% in January to about 28% by mid-October.
Donald Trump and Kristi Noem have sought to justify the intensive crackdown
Image credits: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The administration has justified mass ICE operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C, and Massachusetts by claiming they are needed because of sanctuary city policies.
More than half of those arrested in those high-profile operations had no criminal record, compared with around one-third of immigrants nationwide.
The data reviewed by the NYT also focused on city-specific statistics, revealing that 84 percent of those arrested in D.C. between August and September had no prior convictions.
Only 2 percent of those arrested in the recent operations had been convicted of a violent offense, while 37 percent had a past conviction.
Image credits: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Illinois’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” which has drawn significant scrutiny over allegations of Border Patrol misconduct, produced a similar outcome, with 66 percent of those arrested having no criminal record, 17 percent having a prior conviction, and just 3 percent having a violent conviction.
In Massachusetts, 63 percent of those taken into custody had no prior convictions, and only 2 percent had been convicted of a violent offense; 10 percent had a criminal record.
Similarly, in the L.A. area, 57 percent of arrestees had no criminal record, 29 percent of those detained had a criminal record, and 6 percent had committed a violent offense.
Nationally, the NYT analysis found that the proportion of ICE detainees with criminal convictions dropped from 46 percent in January to about 28 percent by mid-October.
Image credits: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
During the same period, arrests of people with no criminal history rose more quickly than any other category.
The share of detainees with violent convictions also declined, falling to about 5 percent by mid-October, down from 15 percent the previous year.
Under former President Joe Biden in 2024, 63 percent of ICE arrestees had prior convictions, and 24 percent faced pending charges.
The NYT noted that the most common non-violent convictions at that time were for DUI and traffic offenses.
The findings are based on data for ICE arrests and detentions up to October 15 and concentrated on periods when federal enforcement activity intensified.
More than half of those arrested in those high-profile operations had no criminal record
Image credits: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Violent offenses were classified using categories defined by the National Crime Information Center, and it is not known if all Border Patrol arrests were detailed in the data.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement to the NYT, “DHS is targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles and terrorists.
“Seventy percent of illegal aliens ICE arrested across the country have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the United States.”
McLaughlin also told the outlet that the data did not look at people wanted in other countries for violent crimes, but did not provide further information on those cases.
Image credits: Scott Olson/Getty Images
The release of the data comes as Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown continues to draw sharp criticism from advocates and civil rights groups.
Multiple cities and states have already brought or become parties to legal challenges over recent immigration raids, accusing the administration of targeting Democratic-leaning jurisdictions and stretching federal authority beyond its limits.
Trump and senior Homeland Security officials have continued to defend the raids as necessary for public safety.
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