Leftists believe they have cornered President Donald Trump on the issue of deportations by debunking his claim that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has targeted the “worst of the worst” criminal aliens. They are cherry-picking data from an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by CBS News, indicating that just 14% of the roughly 400,000 arrests by ICE since Trump returned to the White House are for “violent criminal offenses.” This has unleashed voices on the left who accuse the president and his administration of lying about the real intent of the now-concluded Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis and related efforts to round up illegal aliens.
Leftist Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
It did not take long for DHS Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin to put that 14% number in perspective. She said in a statement that at least eight categories of heinous crimes committed by illegal aliens targeted for arrest and deportation are not included in the 14%, saying: "Drug trafficking, Distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling are all categorized as 'nonviolent crimes.’”
Back in July, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had said: “The Trump administration has specifically targeted the worst of the worst. The individuals that we are going after are those that are violent criminals, those that are breaking our laws and those that have final removal orders.” So once again, the left is cherry-picking, jumping all over the “worst of the worst” while conveniently ignoring the part of the statement about “those that are breaking our laws” or who have already been ordered out of the country.
The DHS document cited by CBS News shows that ICE arrested over 22,000 individuals with charges or convictions involving dangerous drugs, 6,100 with weapons offenses on their records, and some 30,000 charged with or convicted of driving while intoxicated. Another 5,000 arrestees had burglary charges or convictions, and 118,000 more had criminal charges or convictions for "other" crimes. Add that to the 56,000 “violent” criminals, and that brings to 237,000 the total number of individuals arrested by ICE for crimes that the overwhelming majority of Americans would consider ripe for deportation.
That is almost 60% of ICE arrests, a far cry from the 14% number being bandied about on the left.
Rinse and Repeat: The Left Defies Common Sense
Administration officials assert that most of those arrested who are not charged or convicted of crimes in the US have convictions or pending charges in their home countries, though they have not provided data to substantiate that claim. So, absent available metrics, let’s try some good old-fashioned common sense. What type of people would we expect to leave their countries and cross into the US illegally? Certainly not contented souls. Sure, many come here seeking a better life by any means available. But many more, likely untold millions, are undoubtedly taking it on the lam, fleeing whatever trouble surrounded them in their native land.
Are we supposed to be up in arms about the fact that “only” about 56,000 so-called violent criminals have been caught in the ICE dragnet? Are we called to ignore or feel compassion for the rest because their crimes are categorized differently? The 14% canard essentially advances the argument that the country will be safer if ICE stands down or does not prioritize the roundup of illegal aliens who are child pornographers, burglars, fraudsters, drunk drivers, embezzlers, and human smugglers.
Here is another on-the-ground reality. Those who are here illegally are likely to keep the company of other legal or illegal immigrants, whether or not they have criminal records. So, in searching for criminal aliens, ICE undoubtedly encounters friends, family, and colleagues associated with their targets. Should ICE be in the business of ignoring immigrants they come across in the course of business whose offenses are limited to entering or remaining in the country illegally, or are these federal agents compelled to enforce the law they are sworn to uphold?
Beyond their usual reflexive repulsion to the president, the left’s intent in this case is clear. After seeing Latino voters abandon the Democratic Party in droves in the 2024 election, they are returning to their long-since-futile and tiresome argument that Trump is a horrible racist. But as the left cries into the darkness about Trump’s crackdown designed to correct a severe problem of their own creation, they had better handle their argument carefully because the entire problem of criminal aliens roaming the land was created on the watch of Joe Biden and his open border.
While a clear majority of voters favored mass deportations during the presidential campaign, public support has slipped to below 50% in the wake of troubling images and the deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis. But if leftists believe media hysterics and this 14% canard will lead to broad public demands that ICE stand down, that the country would be better off by simply allowing millions of illegals to continue violating the law with impunity, they do so at their own great peril. The citizenry may be uncomfortable with the sausage-making involved in rounding up and deporting criminal aliens, but they will undoubtedly continue to appreciate the end result.
