On July 17, the Associated Press reported that ICE has arrested a large number of undocumented immigrants with no criminal records in the process of upgrading immigration enforcement, which has aroused doubts from the outside world that the enforcement goals have deviated from the due “public morality” and have also been questioned as “arresting for the purpose of completing the task.”
Data shows that in early June, 47% of the immigrants arrested by ICE every day had no criminal charges or conviction records, significantly higher than the proportion of about 21% in early May.
This change came at a time when the Trump administration asked ICE to increase the minimum number of arrests per day from 1,000 to 3,000.
As of June 26, the average number of ICE arrests per day was about 930, of which about 42% had no criminal record. Although the number of arrests with criminal records has also increased, the increase is far less than that of those without criminal records.
The official has always portrayed the enforcement focus as “cracking down on illegal immigrants with criminal records.” But experts point out that unauthorized residence is a civil violation, not a criminal offense.
Theresa McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, responded that “70% of the people arrested by ICE had convictions or pending charges” and refuted the media’s “misleading the public.”
She also argued that the “non-criminal” label may conceal potential terrorist or gang risks, but did not provide specific evidence to support this claim.
Immigration policy expert Austin Coker pointed out that ICE does have the power to arrest all individuals who violate immigration laws, but at the public level, it continues to emphasize that the law enforcement targets are “dangerous criminals.”
He believes: “ICE is indeed arresting people with a history of violent crimes, and it may also arrest a large number of people without criminal records in order to meet quotas.”
ICE has also recently increased raids in many places: last week, 20 undocumented workers were arrested in a wine warehouse in Edison, New Jersey; on Wednesday, a supermarket in Norristown, Pennsylvania was raided and 14 undocumented immigrants were arrested. The expansion of the scope of law enforcement shows that the Trump administration is advancing immigration law enforcement tasks with “quantity” as the goal.
