Despite tough rhetoric on crime, the Trump administration is arresting a smaller share of violent and drug offenders through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) than the Biden administration did in the same time frame last year. A Stateline analysis shows that while overall ICE arrests have risen significantly, fewer involve convictions for violent or drug-related crimes.
Between Jan. 20 and late June, 40% of the nearly 112,000 ICE arrests under Trump involved convicted criminals, compared with 53% of 51,000 arrests under Biden in the same 2024 period. Arrests of people convicted of violent crimes dropped from 10% to 7%, and drug convictions fell from 9% to 5%.
Meanwhile, arrests of non-criminal immigrants nearly tripled, now making up 60% of total arrests. Immigration attorneys say this signals a shift toward inflating deportation numbers, potentially at the expense of due process.
Some Republicans, like Oregon Rep. Cyrus Javadi, have voiced concern over ICE increasingly targeting people for minor violations. Nationally, traffic offenses — including expired tags — have overtaken more serious crimes like assault as leading causes for detention.
The Department of Homeland Security defended the strategy, citing arrests of “violent thugs” and child predators. Critics say the overall trend reveals a broader dragnet approach.
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