Skip to content

Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

Do 70% of immigrants deported from ICE custody have pending criminal charges or criminal convictions, as Sen. Mullin claimed?

Matthew Yim, Oklahoma Watch
no

Available data does not corroborate the claim that 70% of immigrants deported by ICE have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

According to the Cato Institute’s analysis of ICE data, 57% of individuals deported from ICE custody in November 2025 fell into those categories, and almost half of them had only pending charges; 70% of all deported individuals had no criminal convictions. It’s worth noting that across the U.S., 35% of all criminal charges, two-thirds of which are misdemeanors, end in nonconviction. 

ICE data for 2025 is similar. Of the 222,401 releases, which include voluntary returns, 40% had criminal convictions and 22% had pending charges. 

Court records show that only 1.64% of new cases in FY 2026 sought deportation orders on the basis of alleged criminal activity, excluding potential illegal entry. SIx percent of cases that ended in deportation in 2025 were based on criminal charges. Forty-five percent were based on illegal entry.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

See all fact briefs

Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) corporation that produces in-depth and investigative journalism as a public service for the benefit of all Oklahomans. Through investigative, fact-driven journalism, we dig deep and examine significant issues facing our state. Our work engages all Oklahomans, amplifies the discussion of important issues and leads to change. We help develop the journalists and journalism of the future.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.