After researching this claim, I found that it is true based on multiple independent data sources. While ICE and DHS often emphasize arrests involving people with criminal convictions, broader detention and custody data show that most people currently detained by ICE do not have criminal records, and an even larger share have never been convicted of violent offenses. The disagreement around this claim comes from different ways the data is measured and framed.
Government data reviewed by Congress shows that a large portion of people in ICE detention do not have criminal convictions. This helped confirm that official data supports the claim when looking at detention populations rather than selective arrest statistics. https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118692/documents/HMKP-119-JU00-20251118-SD001.pdf
TRAC data shows that roughly 73% of people currently in ICE detention have no criminal convictions. This source is widely used by researchers and helped clarify the makeup of detention populations. https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/
The Guardian reports that immigrants with no criminal record have become the largest group in U.S. immigration detention. This helped confirm that this trend is recent and represents a shift in enforcement patterns. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/26/immigrants-criminal-record-ice-detention
Cato Institute analysis of ICE data shows that about 65% of people taken into ICE custody had no criminal convictions and that over 93% had never been convicted of a violent offense. This reinforced that the majority of people in custody are not violent criminals. https://www.cato.org/blog/65-people-taken-ice-had-no-convictions-93-no-violent-convictions
DHS has an interest in presenting ICE enforcement as focused on public safety, which may influence how arrest statistics are highlighted. Advocacy and research groups like Cato and TRAC focus on transparency and civil liberties, which may influence how detention data is emphasized. Looking across multiple sources helped reduce reliance on any single framing.
Multiple sources show that most people in ICE detention do not have criminal convictions, and that an overwhelming majority have never been convicted of violent offenses. Data from TRAC, Cato, and congressional records consistently support this.
DHS has released statistics showing that a majority of ICE arrests at certain times involved people with criminal convictions or pending charges. However, arrest data does not fully represent who remains in ICE custody over time, which is what this claim addresses.
This claim is based on aggregated reporting and data analysis rather than a single individual’s statement, so I did not contact an original source directly.
