Noncriminal ICE arrests rose in Arkansas last month
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions surged in June, newly obtained data shows. In Arkansas, the rate of those arrested in that category was 20% that month, up from 15% in May and 10% in April.
Why it matters: The numbers illustrate a major shift that came soon after the Trump administration tripled ICE's arrest quota.
Driving the news: Nationally, 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.
Zoom in: Arrests of people in Arkansas without criminal charges or convictions grew to a total of 54 in June, up from 38 in May and 28 in April.
- Yes, but: The number is lower than a peak in February, when 71 people in that category were arrested.
By the numbers: A total of 1,570 people were arrested in Arkansas by ICE from January to June 26.
- About 18% of those had no criminal charges or convictions.
Flashback: Arkansas lawmakers passed Act 654 this year to enhance penalties for undocumented people convicted of violent crimes.
The big picture: The spike in noncriminal ICE arrests 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 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 emailed to Axios.
Between the lines: "ICE has the authority to arrest immigrants who are suspected of violating immigration laws, regardless of criminal history," writes immigration expert Austin Kocher, a research assistant professor at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, in an analysis of the new data.
The latest: New legislation in Congress would stop ICE from detaining — and possibly deporting — U.S. citizens, Axios' Russell Contreras reports.
What's next: Trump's plan to deport millions of immigrants likely will depend not on removing criminals, but on telling people who are in the U.S. legally that they're no longer welcome, Contreras and Axios' Brittany Gibson write.