The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded to a CBS article that claimed most illegal immigrants arrested during the Trump administration had not committed any “violent criminal offenses.”
CBS reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez reported on Monday that an internal DHS document revealed that less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were charged with or convicted of violent crimes.
The statistic was noted in the context of President Donald Trump’s pledge to target “the worst of the worst.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated on X that the article misrepresented the data, arguing that it minimized the seriousness of certain crimes by labeling them as “non-violent.” Not only that, but as the administration has repeatedly stated, anyone who entered the U.S. illegally is already a criminal.
“Drug trafficking, Distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling are all categorized as ‘non violent crimes.’ Like we said, ~70% of those illegal aliens arrested under @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have pending criminal charges or prior convictions,” McLaughlin wrote on X.
In another post, she added, “By @cbs’s standard, Edward Hernandez, who @ICEgov arrested last week in Virginia is a ‘non criminal’ because he hasn’t been convicted in the United States. Never mind that he is an MS-13 member & confessed to murdering 5 people in El Salvador through shooting, torturing, stabbing, and dismemberment (including one victim who was alive.)”
The official ICE X account responded to the CBS report, criticizing the classification of “non-violent” criminals.
“Here’s a more accurate headline, CBS. Nearly 70% of criminal aliens detained by ICE have pending charges or prior convictions. So-called ‘non-violent’ offenders include individuals charged with drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling, and more. Labeling these offenses as ‘non-violent’ does not mean they aren’t threats to public safety,” the post read.
Homeland Security’s official X account also provided examples of illegal immigrants arrested by ICE who would be considered “non-violent” according to the CBS report, as they were charged and convicted of violent crimes outside the United States, Fox News reported.
Even though the CBS headline claimed “less than 14%” of arrested illegal immigrants have “violent criminal records,” the article itself did note that “nearly 60% of ICE arrestees over the past year had criminal charges or convictions” including for DUI, kidnapping and arson. The other 40%, according to the document, were “accused of civil immigration offenses.”
The numbers in the CBS document represented 393,000 arrests made between Jan. 21, 2025 and Jan. 31 of this year, Fox reported.
Federal immigration authorities, meanwhile, have begun aggressively arresting and prosecuting civilians who follow or monitor enforcement operations in Minneapolis, part of a broader federal crackdown on what officials describe as interference with law enforcement.
The latest incident involved 42-year-old Becky Ringstrom, a mother of seven who was detained on January 29 after trailing federal immigration officers in her gray Kia SUV through a suburban neighborhood. According to bystander video verified by Reuters, Ringstrom was boxed in by unmarked vehicles before at least six masked agents surrounded her car, one striking her windshield with a metal object before taking her into custody.
She was transported to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where she was cited under Title 18, Section 111 of the U.S. Code, a statute that criminalizes forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, or intimidating a federal officer.
The charge can be filed as either a misdemeanor or a felony, carrying penalties of up to 20 years in prison in cases involving weapons or injuries. Court documents show Ringstrom was released after being photographed and told her information would be entered into a government database. Her court date has not yet been set.