December 8, 2025
The increase of immigration arrests came after President Doanld Trump declared a “crime emergency” in major American cities, starting in Washington D.C.
As the Trump administration continues to boast about the number of criminal migrants U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have gotten off the streets, new data shows a majority of arrests were people without criminal records, NBC News reports.
Out of approximately 20,000 people arrested by ICE officers between Jan. 20 and Oct. 15, over a third of them lacked criminal records. Under the direction of Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, ICE targets murderers, rapists, and gang members. Migration Policy Institute Senior Policy Analyst Ariel Ruiz Soto says the new data from the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, contradicts the White House’s narrative, leaving several members of minority communities fearful. “It contradicts what the administration has been saying about people who are convicted criminals and that they are going after the worst of the worst,” Soto said.
According to the Washington Post, the increase in immigration arrests came after President Donald Trump declared a “crime emergency” in major American cities, starting in Washington, D.C.
“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals,” the 47th president claimed before ordering a National Guard takeover. However, 143 people detained in the District had no criminal record.
It wasn’t until his emergency decree that the number shot up to 932.
The numbers show 90% of people arrested by ICE through mid-October were male, with Mexican nationals accounting for the largest number of overall arrests at 85,000. Natives of Guatemala trailed behind at 31,000, followed by Honduras at 24,000. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller threatened to fire senior ICE officials in mid-May 2025 if they failed to arrest at least 3,000 migrants per day.
Policy attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Nithya Nathan-Pineau, says the data proves what the organizations and other immigrant rights groups were saying all along: there was no strategy behind the ICE arrests. “If their stated purpose was to address violent crime or public safety, you would think they would focus on people who have been doing things that would endanger public safety,” she said.
“These were indiscriminate enforcement actions going after any person who appeared to be an immigrant. … What’s motivating them is just sheer numbers.”
However, the White House and corresponding agencies continue to stand by the president’s claim of nothing but success. “The focus of President Trump’s highly successful D.C. operation has been to address crime committed by anyone, regardless of immigration status,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.
The arrests resulted in massive damage in the workforce, specifically in construction, as more than 60% of detainees ranged between the ages of 25 and 45. “Now we’re really feeling that pain in the workforce,” Hispanic Construction Council CEO George Carrillo said.
“Now even the most conservative Republicans are feeling it and understanding that, hey, something different has to be done because now it is affecting their businesses. And they’re worried about this strategy.”
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