Despite a growing proportion of arrests involving individuals with no criminal record in the United States, data indicates that the Trump administration is detaining significantly more immigrants overall.
President Donald Trump, who has pledged to target the “worst of the worst” as part of his mass deportation agenda, is leading an immigration crackdown that increasingly affects people without U.S. criminal histories.
The administration accelerated immigration arrests early in Trump’s term, though the pace briefly leveled off in the spring. According to federal data compiled by the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project, approximately 37% of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests in July were of individuals with no U.S. criminal convictions or pending charges. That figure marks a sharp increase from 13% in December, the final full month of Joe Biden’s presidency.
David Hausman, a law professor and director of the Deportation Data Project, explained the challenge of reconciling the president’s goals: “It’s impossible both to have mass deportations and to concentrate deportations on the worst of the worst.”
While the share of non-criminal arrests is rising, arrests of immigrants with U.S. criminal convictions or pending charges have also surged. During Trump’s first six months in office, such arrests more than doubled to about 92,000 compared with Biden’s final half-year in office. The data includes only U.S.-based charges and convictions, though the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notes that it also targets individuals accused of crimes abroad. DHS often publicizes such arrests on social media but rarely provides details about the foreign allegations.
“Many of the individuals that are counted as ‘non-criminals’ are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members, and more,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs. “They just don’t have a rap sheet in the U.S.”
In late May, arrest totals rose sharply after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller instructed ICE officials to aim for at least 3,000 arrests per day. Although the Justice Department denies setting arrest quotas, enforcement has intensified. Backed by more than $150 billion in new funding for border security and enforcement, the administration is expanding detention capacity and recruiting thousands of additional ICE officers.
Still, while Trump has increased the arrest of individuals with criminal records, a majority of those detained during his first six months—slightly more than 60%—had never been convicted of a U.S. crime. Under Biden’s final six months, that share was 44%.
Among convicted individuals arrested under Trump, 8% were charged with the most serious offenses—such as homicide, manslaughter, human trafficking, alien smuggling, rape, or other sex crimes—compared with 10% under Biden. For both administrations, roughly 58% of arrested convicts’ most serious charges involved driving under the influence, assault or battery, drug offenses, or criminal immigration violations.
