CBS News recently ran an “exclusive” with the headline: “Less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump’s 1st year back in office had violent criminal records, document shows.” At first glance, the framing suggests ICE is overstating the threat. But once you read past the headline, the article itself acknowledges that this statistic comes from a pool of roughly 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE during President Trump’s first year of his second term.
That’s where the headline becomes misleading. Saying “only 14%” minimizes the reality of what those numbers represent. Victims of violent crime don’t care whether the offender is part of a small or large percentage—they care that the crime happened at all. And the data is not trivial:
- 346 arsonists
- 1,116 kidnappers
- 2,107 murderers
- 2,725 robbers
- 5,053 burglars
- 5,365 sexual assailants
- 6,146 weapons offenders
- 22,555 with dangerous drug offenses
- 29,929 DUI/DWI offenders
- 42,847 who committed assault
These aren’t minor infractions. Many of these crimes have high recidivism rates, meaning the individuals involved often have multiple victims over time. When you add it up, more than 275,000 people or families were harmed by individuals in this group. And since these offenses account for roughly 70% of those arrested and deported, it’s clear that the majority were not simply people who crossed the border illegally—they were people who broke additional laws, often serious ones.
It’s also reasonable to assume that many of the remaining ~118,000 were detained alongside criminal offenders—spouses, children, or other household members who were also in the country illegally. ICE is not roaming the streets looking for law‑abiding undocumented immigrants; they are primarily targeting individuals who have already been arrested or flagged for criminal activity. If sanctuary cities consistently transferred custody of criminal offenders to ICE instead of releasing them, tragedies like the deaths of Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin and even protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti might have been prevented.
The data also indicates that approximately 1,100 deportees were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, and another 6,200 belonged to other gangs, including MS‑13. These are not harmless individuals.
So when CBS frames the situation as if ICE is making a fuss over “only” 14%, it ignores the real‑world impact on the victims of these crimes. The headline softens a reality that is anything but soft.
As comedian Nikki Glaser joked, if you want to “See B.S. News,” you know where to look.