Dallas-area ICE arrests of noncriminals skyrocketed
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions in the Dallas area soared in June, per data compiled by the Deportation Data Project.
Why it matters: The surge follows a national trend that coincides with the Trump administration's decision on May 21 to triple ICE's arrest quota.
By the numbers: In January, ICE agents arrested 1,085 total people in the Dallas Field Office region, which includes North Texas, the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma.
- As of June 26 — the most recent data available — the monthly arrest figure increased 59% to 1,726.
Zoom in: The monthly share of Dallas-area ICE detainees without criminal charges or convictions more than doubled, from 197 in January (18% of all arrests) to 524 (30%) in June.
The big picture: Nationwide, people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 47% of daily ICE arrests in early June, up from about 21% in early May, before the quota increase.
The other side: "The media continues to peddle this FALSE narrative that ICE is not targeting criminal illegal aliens," Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Axios.
- McLaughlin added that 70% of ICE arrests were for immigrants with criminal convictions or pending charges, but did not elaborate on that figure.
Between the lines: "ICE has the authority to arrest immigrants who are suspected of violating immigration laws, regardless of criminal history," writes Austin Kocher, research assistant professor at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and immigration expert, in an analysis of the new data.
- "Nevertheless, the administration has gone to great lengths in the press and on social media to emphasize the criminality of people they are arresting. Both things can be true, of course."
The bottom line: The Trump administration is casting a far wider net than initially promised.