DHS acknowledged inaccuracies on its public "Arrested: Worst Of the Worst" website and updated entries after CNN questioned the data. CNN found hundreds of people listed only for minor offenses, a discrepancy DHS attributed to a website "glitch" affecting about 5% of records. The agency said the issue was resolved but declined to explain the technical cause. Reporters also noted many arrests were listed in small towns, which could suggest detainees were already in federal custody or transferred from state facilities.
DHS Says ‘Worst Of the Worst’ Arrests Site Contained Errors; Agency Blames Glitch After CNN Review
Kristi Noem
The Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged significant errors on its public website titled "Arrested: Worst Of the Worst", which lists names, alleged crimes and locations for people the agency says were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agency updated the pages after CNN raised questions about the accuracy of entries.
Following a CNN review, DHS conceded that a substantial portion of entries contained incorrect or incomplete information. CNN found hundreds of listings that recorded only minor offenses—such as a single traffic violation or a marijuana possession charge—when more serious or repeated convictions appeared to exist.
Agency Response
A DHS spokesperson told CNN, "This is a glitch on the WOW website that impacted about 5% of the entries." The spokesperson said many records that showed only traffic offenses or an illegal-reentry charge (a felony) in fact include additional crimes. DHS also stated that the affected individuals were arrested by ICE and placed in removal proceedings.
The agency said it worked "to fix the issue" and later reported the glitch had been "resolved," but DHS declined to provide technical details about the nature of the problem when asked by CNN.
Other Discrepancies and Context
CNN also flagged a pattern of arrests listed in small towns and cities. Reporters noted this could indicate that some detainees were already in federal custody or had been transferred from state facilities—circumstances that can affect how and where an arrest is recorded.
Observers compared the incident to a prior case in which DHS justified an arrest by saying officials believed the person was a violent sex offender; that individual had in fact been incarcerated for more than a year. The episode underscores concerns about accuracy and transparency in public government databases.
Bottom line: DHS says a website glitch produced inaccurate entries for a minority of records and that it has corrected the pages, but it has not provided a technical explanation and questions remain about how some arrests were recorded.
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