Data contradicts Trump: Migrant detentions and deportations are not limited to criminals

National security has been Donald Trump’s favorite argument to justify his long-awaited mass deportation of undocumented migrants. As a candidate, the Republican assured that his campaign of detentions and expulsions would target criminals, earning him the support of a majority of the population in the November election. In the first weeks of his presidency, however, the reality has proven different. In the raids carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), a high percentage of people without any criminal record are being arrested and deported.

Data on ICE arrests during the first month of the Republican administration are not readily available. ICE had been posting daily apprehension totals on its X account in the early days of Trump’s second term, but stopped doing so in early February. However, NBC obtained arrest data through mid-month and found that of the 4,422 people detained by ICE in the first two weeks of February, 1,800 — or 41% — had no criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

These numbers contradict the narrative pushed by the Trump Administration, which has made arrests and deportations a major media hype. Every day, on their social media and websites, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) publish photos and videos of people who have been arrested. In some of the images, they are seen handcuffed and escorted by authorities. Others look more like police files, in which a mug shot of the detainee appears next to a list of the crimes they have committed. These range from rape to hit-and-run and robbery, according to the files.

What is not being publicized, however, are the arrests of migrants who do not have criminal records and who are in the process of regularizing their status in the country. Some of these arrests have even occurred during traffic checkpoints. Ashley, an American citizen, is now living in anguish after her husband José was served with a deportation order following a road check in Texas.

Ashley recounted a few days ago how she was travelling in her car with her husband and three children (aged four, one year and six months), when a police officer stopped them. Her husband, José, who was driving, does not have legal paperwork because he entered the country illegally, although because he is married to an American citizen he was in the process of obtaining a green card.

Shortly afterward, immigration agents arrived and took him into custody, leaving Ashley, who cannot drive, with their three children in the middle of the road. Jose was released within hours, but now has a deportation order. “Donald Trump is going about it the wrong way. He should catch those who are committing crimes like murdering people and things like that. He should take out the dangerous ones,” Ashley said. “What they are saying is that an American citizen should not fall in love with someone who is illegal. I understand that, but in my opinion, he is a human being, just like me.”

The fear of encountering an ICE agent has spread like wildfire among mixed-status families, in which one of the members is undocumented. The experience of recent weeks has made it clear that not having a criminal record does not protect them from deportation.

“This story highlights the fact that ICE doesn’t just detain people with criminal records to put them in deportation proceedings,” said Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the attorney handling the case. “Ashley and her husband, Jose, had already hired a law firm to get her a green card. They were going through the process. They were doing everything the right way, and now because of this incident, Jose has been put into deportation proceedings. The family has been traumatized, and this is one more person in the already backlogged immigration court system.”

Identified by tattoos

Even many of the migrants deported to Guantanamo, described by border czar Tom Homan as “the worst of the worst,” have no criminal record. Venezuelans sent to the naval base in Cuba, who have already been transferred to Caracas via Honduras, have been described as violent criminals or linked to the Tren de Aragua gang. Some were identified as such because they had tattoos typical of that group, which Trump has deemed a terrorist organization. However, several media outlets have denied that they are criminals.

Although authorities have not released the identities of those deported, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune have identified nearly a dozen of the Venezuelan migrants sent to Guantanamo and have confirmed that at least three of them have not committed any crimes other than having entered the country illegally.

These individuals have been identified are Jose Daniel Simancas, a 30-year-old construction worker, Yoiker Sequera and Mayfreed Duran, who were hairdressers in Venezuela. All three had been detained by immigration authorities shortly after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and held for months awaiting deportation. Two of them have no criminal record except illegal entry. The third had been charged with kicking an officer while he was restrained.

Data obtained by ProPublica and the Tribune show that from January 20 through early February, there were about 14,000 arrests of migrants, of whom only 44 percent had criminal records, and of those, about half were convicted of minor offenses.

New legislation makes these expulsions easier and quicker. Recently signed by Trump, the Laken Riley Act allows undocumented immigrants to be deported for minor crimes, such as shoplifting, even if they are not convicted of them.

The rhetoric from the Administration is that, even if they lack criminal records, undocumented immigrants are criminals because they crossed the border illegally. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokeswoman, said that immigrants without criminal records are often “far from innocent.” And in a recent interview with ScrippNews, Homan confirmed that the fact of being undocumented already equates them with criminals. “There is nothing in the Immigration and Nationality Act that says that in addition to illegal entry, another crime must be committed. Illegal entry into the country is a crime,” he justified.

Civil rights organizations denounce that many migrants are being detained because of their race or skin color, even if they are U.S. citizens. And it does not only affect Latinos. Navajo President Buu Nygren said on tribal radio station KTNN that he had received reports of “negative and sometimes traumatizing” encounters between ICE and citizens of the Navajo Nation.

Put together, all the anti-immigrant executive orders approved by the government shows, according to critics, that Trump’s intention is not to prioritize the expulsion of criminals as he has insisted.

“If it’s true that the Administration is targeting violent criminals, why have there been executive orders rescinding TPS [Temporary Protected Status]? These people are here legally,” said Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Coalition of Latino Evangelicals (NALEC). “Why cancel the CBP One application, which allowed people to arrive legally from their countries of origin? If it’s true that they are targeting violent criminals, then why are we sending agents to sensitive places? I don’t know of any pastor, bishop, rabbi or religious leader who is trying to shelter violent criminals in their places of worship.”

Broadening the spectrum of migrants who may be deported would allow ICE agents to get closer to the expulsion target set by Trump, after it was found that the desired numbers have not been reached.

In his first month in the White House, 37,660 people were deported, according to a report released last Friday, a number well below the 57,000 expulsions that the Joe Biden administration carried out monthly last year. The Democrat pushed for deportations, pressured by the border chaos caused by the massive arrival of migrants during his term.

Homan has already expressed his dissatisfaction with the pace of arrests and has asked for more resources to carry out the assigned task. The DHS, however, has a positive assessment. On its X account, it reads: “In the first month of the Trump administration, @POTUS and @Sec_Noem delivered results to make America safe again. This is just the beginning..”

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