Guardian: Trump drives surge in ICE detentions of those with no criminal record despite stated priorities

ICE facilities across the US are holding significantly more people than normal capacity

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is continuing to arrest an increasing number of immigrants without any criminal history, according to recent federal government data reviewed by the Guardian, demonstrating a further dramatic surge in this trend.

The latest available data, released by ICE last Friday, appears to contradict Trump administration officials’ frequent assertions that the agency is prioritizing the pursuit of criminals in its immigration enforcement operations.

“Our number one concern is violent criminals,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which houses Ice, said on TV in an interview with PBS last week.

In mid-June, ICE data shows there were more than 11,700 people in immigration detention who had been arrested by ICE despite having no track record of being charged with or convicted of a crime. That represents a staggering 1,271% increase from data released on those in immigration detention immediately before the start of Trump’s second term.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/24/trump-immigrants-ice-arrests

Guardian: Ice arrests of migrants with no criminal history surging under Trump

Guardian analysis sharply contradicts president’s claim that officials are targeting ‘criminals’ for deportation from US

The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency has exponentially increased the arrest and detention of immigrants without any criminal history since the second Trump administration took office, a data analysis by the Guardian shows.

The information sharply contradicts Donald Trump’s claims the authorities are targeting “criminals” for deportation as part of his aggressive anti-immigration agenda.

According to numbers gathered from Ice and the Vera Institute of Justice, after Trump returned to the White House in late January there was a steep surge in arrests of immigrants, in general. One of the sharpest increases in arrest numbers has been of immigrants with pending charges, who have not yet been convicted of any crimes.

But the biggest increase has been people with no charges at all. Between early January, right before the inauguration, and June, there has been an 807% increase in the arrest of immigrants with no criminal record.

In other words the incessant chants of “Criminals! Criminals! Criminals!” coming from the White House / Homeland Security / ICE are a bunch of BS. They’re deporting anyone they can drag out of home or work or snatch off the streets.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/14/ice-arrests-migrants-trump-figures