(AURN News) — The Cato Institute is raising alarm over the Trump administration‘s immigration enforcement program, saying that deportation efforts are targeting large numbers of people with no criminal record — despite claims by the administration that it is focused on violent offenders.
“As of June 14, ICE had booked into detention 204,297 individuals (since October 1, 2024, the start of fiscal year 2025). Of those book-ins, 65 percent, or 133,687 individuals, had no criminal convictions,” Cato said.
The organization also reported that more than 93 percent of ICE book-ins were never convicted of any violent offenses. About nine in 10 had no convictions for violent or property offenses. According to Cato, most convictions — 53 percent — fell into three main categories: immigration, traffic, or nonviolent vice crimes.
Their analysis found that 65.4 percent of those detained by ICE posed few serious public safety threats. Cato also found that ICE has increased detaining more and more noncriminals.
“As of June 14, the agency had booked 44,897 individuals with only a pending charge,” the report said. “The agency sometimes erroneously calls these people ‘criminals,’ even without a conviction. This is wrong. We believe in due process in America because many people charged are never ultimately convicted.”
Cato also reported that convicted criminals accounted for only 29 percent of the increase in people detained by ICE since January, while 71 percent had no convictions. The report concluded that ICE book-ins are primarily noncriminals and nonviolent offenders.
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