New data reveals ICE arrests immigrants with no criminal record far more often than violent offenders, contradicting Trump-era policy claims.
The city of Los Angeles shows a trend that mirrors ICE operations nationwide. The Trump Administration says its policy is to arrest immigrants with criminal records and deport them, but the statistics show otherwise.
In L.A., of all those arrested, only 6 percent have a record of violent convictions, 29 percent have a violent conviction on their record, 14 percent have pending criminal charges, and 57 percent have no criminal charges.
This reveals what many opponents of ICE operations have stated: immigration authorities are arresting any suspect based on racial and other criteria unrelated to the law.
The federal deployments that have swept through major cities as part of President Trump’s immigration crackdown have led to thousands of arrests. But they have been less effective at apprehending immigrants with criminal records than more routine operations elsewhere, new data shows.
In high-profile Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and across Massachusetts, more than half of those arrested had no criminal record, compared with a third of immigrants arrested nationwide.
The Trump administration has said that the aggressive operations are necessary because so-called sanctuary city policies have made it harder for ICE agents to go after immigrants who have committed crimes. It has deployed other federal forces, including Border Patrol and the National Guard, to expand its crackdown.
The operations have extended life for many residents and prompted protests and backlash. Local leaders say they have done little to make their cities safer.
Less than 30 percent of the people arrested in any of these operations had been convicted of a crime, an analysis of the data shows, and a very small share had been convicted of a violent crime. The most common non-violent convictions were for driving under the influence and other traffic offenses.
A shift in focus
Historically, ICE worked with local law enforcement officials to take custody of immigrants held in local jails and prisons after they had served their sentences or were released. Last year, under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., 63 percent of those arrested by ICE had a criminal conviction, and 24 percent had pending criminal charges.
Under President Trump, ICE arrests of all types are up, including transfers from other law enforcement agencies, the data shows. But the greatest increase in arrests has occurred outside of these programs. In five states and Washington, D.C., a majority of the people detained by ICE this year had no criminal record.
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