Indiana's noncriminal ICE arrests climb amid Trump immigration push
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Arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement surged in Indiana in June, newly obtained data shows.
Why it matters: The surge came after the Trump administration tripled U.S. ICE's arrest quota, and marks a major shift from the president's pledge to target the "worst of the worst."
By the numbers: In January, ICE arrested 136 people in Indiana, of whom 6% had no criminal charge, an Axios analysis found.
- In June, 23% of the 309 people ICE arrested in the state had no criminal charge.
- The number of total arrests from January to June has grown by 127%.
Zoom out: 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.
Context: UC Berkeley School of Law's Deportation Data Project obtained the agency's data — based on seven-day trailing averages — via Freedom of Information Act requests.
- Being in the U.S. illegally is a civil, not criminal, violation.
Zoom in: Four Indiana law enforcement agencies have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE to arrest and remove unauthorized immigrants.
- The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, the only Central Indiana agency cooperating, was the first agency to ink such a deal.
- They were followed by sheriff's offices in Jasper and Noble counties and the Green Forks Police Department in Wayne County.
- ICE announced earlier this month that its Indianapolis team made more than 30 arrests in 24 hours, and officers "attribute their success to the high number of cooperative agencies across Indiana, including 287(g) partners."
Reality check: That "Indianapolis team" does not include the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
- In January, IMPD chief Chris Bailey issued a statement saying his department "has not been asked to take part in immigration sweeps, nor do we have any intention of doing so — this is not our role."
State of play: The spike in noncriminal ICE arrests nationwide came despite the Trump administration's claimed focus on criminals living in the country illegally.
- And it happened just after the Trump administration told ICE to arrest at least 3,000 people daily, up from 1,000.
What they're saying: "The official data tells the true story: 70% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges," Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement emailed to Axios.
- "Additionally, many illegal aliens categorized as 'non-criminals' are actually terrorists, human rights abusers, gang members and more — they just don't have a rap sheet in the U.S. This deceptive 'non-criminal' categorization is devoid of reality and misleads the American public."
- A DHS spokesperson did not immediately answer Axios' follow-up question about the origins of the 70% figure.
The bottom line: "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. ICE can arrest some people with violent criminal histories and a lot of people without criminal histories."