NBC News reports that a low percentage of undocumented immigrants apprehended by federal immigration agents since Oct. 1 have been convicted of sexual assault and homicide — a group the Trump administration said was a priority in its aggressive deportation campaign.
Using internal data obtained from U.S. Customs and Enforcement, or ICE, NBC News reports that ICE arrested 752 people convicted of homicide and 1,693 people convicted of sexual assault between Oct. 1 and May 31. The data shows those apprehensions tally just 6% of the undocumented immigrants known to ICE to have been convicted of homicide and 11% of those known to ICE to have been convicted of sexual assault.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin refuted the report by NBC News.
“The premise of your question relies on inaccurate data,” McLaughlin told NBC News. “Secretary [Kristi] Noem has unleashed the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to target the worst of the worst — including gang members, murderers, and rapists. In President Trump’s first 100 days, 75% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges.”
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The data obtained from ICE by NBC News includes every person booked by ICE officials during the 8-month period, beginning last October when President Biden was in office. Trump took office Jan. 20.
The data shows a total of 185,042 people arrested and booked into ICE facilities during that time, with 65,041 having been convicted of crimes. The most common categories of crimes committed: immigration and traffic offenses.
One senior DHS official told NBC News that apprehending undocumented immigrants with criminal conviction records is more difficult than noncriminal immigrants, “in part because of the workforce involved in investigating and arresting high-risk targets.”
“They want everybody who cannot show their papers to get out of the country,” said the official, who asked to speak on the condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation for openly criticizing the administration’s approach.
President Donald Trump, as a 2024 presidential candidate against then President Joe Biden, campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the United States illegally.
Administration officials have repeatedly portrayed their initial efforts as going after people they describe as “the worst of the worst." This meant nabbing those who pose public safety or national security threats, people who’ve been arrested or convicted of committing crimes in America or who ICE determines are gang members.
The crackdown has intensified in recent weeks with after White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told top ICE officials that the administration’s goal is 3,000 arrests a day, up from 650 a day in the first five months of Trump’s second term.
