Arizona sees increase in noncriminal immigrant arrests by ICE
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions increased in Arizona in recent months, reflecting a national trend, newly obtained data shows.
Why it matters: The numbers illustrate a major shift that arrived soon after the Trump administration tripled ICE's arrest quota from 1,000 to 3,000.
The big picture: The surge in non-criminal arrests followed the new directive, despite the administration's stated focus on targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
Context: Being in the U.S. illegally is a civil, not criminal, violation.
By the numbers: In January, ICE agents arrested 451 people in Arizona, 81 of whom — 18% of the total — had no criminal charges or convictions.
- That shot up to 198 of 702 in May and 241 of 863 in June, making it 28% in both months.
How it works: That's according to agency data obtained by the UC Berkeley School of Law's Deportation Data Project via Freedom of Information Act requests, and based on seven-day trailing averages.
Zoom out: Nationwide, the surge was more significant — 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.
- The average number of daily arrests for those with charges or convictions also increased in early June, but not to the same degree.
- As of June 26 — the most recent data available — ICE was reporting an average of 930 daily arrests, about 42% of which involved people without charges or convictions.
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 to Axios.
- "The official data tells the true story: 70% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges. 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.
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.
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.