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Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

Are 70% of undocumented immigrants arrested by ICE under Trump convicted or charged with a crime?

Sharon Li, Econofact
no

Available evidence does not support the claim that 70% of undocumented immigrants arrested by ICE were convicted or charged with a crime. 

According to data compiled by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, 42,755 out of 59,762 people in ICE detention as of September 21, 2025 — about 72% — had no criminal conviction. Of the remaining 28%, many were convicted or charged with minor offenses such as traffic violations.

Case-level evidence from Chicago underscores this pattern. An NPR article, drawing on Department of Justice records filed in federal court in November 2025, reports that 598 of the 614 immigrants arrested in Chicago as part of the “Operation Midway Blitz” raids launched in September had no criminal record at the time of their arrest, which amounts to about 97%.

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