Despite promise to remove 'worst of the worst,' ICE has arrested only 6% of known immigrant murderers

After six months of assertive migration enforcement and promises to absorption connected deporting convulsive criminals, the Trump medication has arrested and detained a tiny fraction of the undocumented immigrants already known to Immigration and Customs Enforcement arsenic having been convicted of intersexual battle and homicide, interior ICE information obtained by NBC News shows.

The information is simply a tally of each idiosyncratic booked by ICE during fiscal twelvemonth 2025 truthful far, including during the Biden administration, moving from Oct. 1 done May 31. It shows a full of 185,042 radical arrested and booked into ICE facilities during that time; 65,041 of them person been convicted of crimes. The astir communal categories of crimes they committed were migration and postulation offenses.

Almost fractional of the radical presently successful ICE custody person neither been convicted of nor charged with immoderate crime, other ICE information shows.

Last fall, ICE told Congress that 13,099 radical convicted of homicide and 15,811 radical convicted of intersexual battle were connected its non-detained docket, meaning it knew who they were but did not person them successful custody. A spokesperson said astatine the clip that ICE had immoderate accusation astir but did not cognize the nonstop whereabouts of each the immigrants connected the non-detained docket and that immoderate could person near the United States oregon could beryllium successful prison.

Running for president astatine the time, Donald Trump utilized those figures to knock his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“These are hard, tough, vicious criminals that are escaped to roam successful our country,” Trump said astatine a run halt successful Michigan.

The caller information obtained by NBC News shows that from Oct. 1 to May 31, ICE arrested 752 radical convicted of homicide and 1,693 radical convicted of intersexual assault, meaning that astatine the implicit most, the Trump medication has detained lone 6% of the undocumented immigrants known to ICE to person been convicted of homicide and 11% of those known to ICE to person been convicted of intersexual assault.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin called the information inaccurate but did not supply earthy numbers of arrests by transgression category.

“The premise of your question relies connected inaccurate data. Secretary [Kristi] Noem has unleashed the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to people the worst of the worst—including pack members, murderers, and rapists. In President Trump’s archetypal 100 days, 75% of ICE arrests were transgression amerciable aliens with convictions oregon pending charges,” McLaughlin said successful effect to NBC News.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, has besides asked ICE for a breakdown of however galore murderers, rapists and different criminals ICE has arrested, noting that the thought of going aft the “worst of the worst” is fashionable among some Democrats and Republicans.

Gonzales said helium wants ICE to usage its tactical teams to absorption connected arresting the astir convulsive criminals. “I privation them doing that benignant of work, not raiding Home Depot and, you know, fending disconnected convulsive riots,” helium told NBC News this week.

And helium argued that getting convulsive criminals disconnected the streets is much important than precocious apprehension numbers.

“One tin say, you know, ‘I deported 1,000 radical today,’ and idiosyncratic tin say, ‘Wow, you’re doing specified a large job.’ Well, if, of those 1000 people, nary of them are convicted criminals ... person you genuinely made our assemblage immoderate much harmless than it was before?”

A elder DHS authoritative said it is overmuch much hard to apprehension superior criminals than noncriminal immigrants, successful portion due to the fact that of the workforce progressive successful investigating and arresting high-risk targets. The authoritative said the bureau has shifted distant from prioritizing detaining and deporting the criminals that Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, calls the “worst of the worst” and is alternatively focused connected deporting anyone who does not person ineligible status.

“They privation everybody who cannot amusement their papers to get retired of the country,” said the official, who asked to talk connected the information of anonymity, fearing retaliation for openly criticizing the administration’s approach.

The medication has precocious fixed mixed messages astir whom it is targeting, bouncing betwixt saying it is going aft convulsive transgression immigrants and widening its scope to anyone who is successful the state illegally.

But the administration’s efforts to detain immigrants who are not criminals person begun to rise concerns with Gonzales, arsenic good arsenic immoderate of his Republican colleagues connected Capitol Hill.

Gonzales and 5 different Republican members sent a missive to ICE this period asking for an update connected however galore transgression noncitizens it had arrested.

“While we bash hold that we are a federation of laws—and that each who crossed our borders illegally are taxable to those laws—there are levels of precedence that indispensable beryllium considered erstwhile it comes to migration enforcement. Every infinitesimal that we walk pursuing an idiosyncratic with a cleanable grounds is simply a infinitesimal little that we dedicate to apprehending terrorists oregon cartel operatives,” they wrote.