ICE Arrests Climb Above 30,000/Month — Increasing Share Have No Criminal Convictions

Immigration arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have surged under the Trump administration, but a growing share of those detained have no prior criminal convictions, data analyses show.

Example: There were 105 immigration arrests in October at a horse racetrack in Wilder, Idaho. Nationwide, enforcement intensified through mid‑October, with monthly arrest volumes topping 30,000 — a sharp rise from earlier this year.

What the Data Show

An analysis by Stateline of data from the Deportation Data Project, a research collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley and UCLA, found that arrests more than doubled in 45 states compared with the same period last year during the Biden administration. The District of Columbia recorded 1,190 arrests versus just seven in the comparable Biden‑era period. Arrests were also more than five times higher in New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon and Virginia.

While the absolute number of arrests has risen, the composition of those arrested has shifted. The share of arrestees with convictions for violent crimes fell from 9% in January to under 5% in October. By contrast, during the same months under the prior administration that share remained between roughly 10% and 11%.

At the same time, arrests made solely for immigration violations increased substantially. Stateline’s analysis shows immigration‑only arrests accounted for about 20% of apprehensions in April and climbed to 44% by October. In several jurisdictions, a majority of arrests were for immigration violations alone: the District of Columbia (80%), New York (61%), Virginia (57%), Illinois (53%), West Virginia (51%) and Maryland (50%).

Where the Numbers Jumped Most

States with large immigrant populations saw the biggest numeric increases. The largest rises were in Texas (+29,403 arrests, roughly triple last year’s figure), Florida (+14,693 arrests, about four times higher) and California (+13,345 arrests, about four times higher).

Policy, Practice and Pushback

Experts say the pattern runs counter to the administration’s stated goal of focusing enforcement on the most serious offenders. "The result stands in contrast to the administration’s objective of arresting the ‘worst of the worst,'" said Ariel Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute (MPI). He warned that heightened enforcement can create more "collateral" arrests of people encountered while searching for convicted criminals.

State responses vary. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) has pledged to resist mass deportation plans and proposed legislation to ban ICE detention facilities in the state; New Mexico currently hosts three privately run ICE detention centers with capacity for about 2,000 people. Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) has pursued a 287(g) agreement with ICE, transferring people from county jails to federal custody; his office says transfers target "highly dangerous" individuals, though a local review found some transfers occurred despite dismissed or still‑pending charges.

Nationally, monthly arrests rose from roughly 17,000 in February — the first full month of the president’s current term — to more than 30,000 in September and October. Although the percentage of arrested people with criminal convictions fell from 46% to 30%, the monthly number of convicted‑criminal arrests has still been higher each month than under the previous administration.

Legal Challenges

Several enforcement actions face court pushback. A federal judge recently barred the government from conducting immigration arrests in the District of Columbia without warrants or probable cause. In August, a federal court blocked the administration’s expansion of expedited removal, a process that permits rapid deportations without normal judicial review; the administration has appealed. Researchers caution that the expedited removal expansion could affect millions — MPI estimated it might apply to roughly 2.5 million people, including people released at the border with pending court dates and those holding temporary protections such as humanitarian parole.

Data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University showed that only 3% of those arrested between Sept. 21 and Nov. 16 had criminal convictions, reinforcing concerns that enforcement has shifted heavily toward individuals without convictions.

Reporting: Stateline reporter Tim Henderson contributed to this analysis.