The vast majority of illegal immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have criminal histories, according to new data provided by ICE to the Washington Examiner.
Roughly 70% of the nearly 600,000 illegal immigrants arrested by ICE since President Donald Trump took office in January have either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges in the U.S., the outlet reported Dec. 26. The figures, which cover arrests from Jan. 20 through Dec. 11, indicate that about 416,000 of the 595,000 detainees fall into that category.
The data reflects the administration’s stated pledge to prioritize public safety threats by targeting what officials have described as the “worst of the worst,” including murderers, rapists, gang members, and other violent offenders.
The Washington Examiner reported that the figures do not include illegal immigrants without U.S. criminal convictions who may still pose serious risks, such as individuals wanted for violent crimes abroad, known gang affiliates, or suspected terrorists flagged through international alerts.
“This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorists, etc.,” an ICE spokesperson told the outlet, referring to international alerts issued through INTERPOL.
The report highlighted the case of Antonio Israel Lazo-Quintanilla, whom ICE arrested in March. While his only known offense in the U.S. was driving without a license, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he was wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide, extortion, possession of drugs, and other felonies.
In another case, ICE arrested Akhror Bozorov, an Uzbekistan citizen, in November. Although he had no criminal record in the U.S., he was wanted in Uzbekistan for involvement with a terrorist organization, according to a DHS report.
Many arrests stem from information shared by state and local law enforcement, often following routine encounters such as traffic stops or after individuals are booked on criminal charges. There are about 6,500 ICE officers nationwide who are responsible for arresting and removing illegal immigrants, the Washington Examiner reported.
“Most detainees come from state and local arrests. Traffic stops are the most common,” Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and resident fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said, according to the Washington Examiner.
Not all analysts agree with ICE’s assessment. As noted by the Washington Examiner report, David Bier from the libertarian Cato Institute think tank has maintained that only about 35% of illegal immigrants booked into detention centers since October 2024 have criminal convictions. Bier suggested that ICE’s broader figure counts individuals with pending charges who remain in the justice system and that many of the offenses cited are less serious crimes.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance have previously estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million criminal illegal immigrants are residing in the U.S., per the Washington Examiner report.
Beyond criminal offenders, the administration has said it intends to remove illegal immigrants who already have final deportation orders from federal immigration judges but remain in the country.
A July report by the New York Post cited by the Washington Examiner estimated that roughly 1.5 million people had been ordered deported but not yet removed. The report also indicated that about 423,000 convicted criminal illegal immigrants were still at large and within ICE’s enforcement scope in July.
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