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Trump-era deportation data show many removed immigrants lacked serious criminal convictions.

The Claim

Deportations carried out under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump primarily targeted immigrants convicted of serious crimes.

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The Short Version

Available enforcement data does not show a deportation system mainly focused on immigrants convicted of serious crimes. Official Trump-era statistics often count any criminal history or even pending charges, and serious or violent offenders were only a small fraction of those removed. In some periods, large shares had no criminal conviction at all.

Caveats

  • The claim conflates any criminal history or pending charge with conviction for a serious crime; the evidence treats those as very different categories.
  • Arrests, detention, and removals are not interchangeable measures; some reports emphasize arrests while the claim is about deportations.
  • “Serious crimes” is undefined, and official summaries often use broad criminal categories that include minor traffic, immigration, and nonviolent offenses.

The Receipts

  1. Annual Report Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2017

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

  2. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Fiscal Year 2019 Enforcement and Removal Operations Report

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

  3. IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: Arrests, Removals, and Detentions Varied Over Time and ICE Should Strengthen Data Reporting (GAO-24-106233)

    U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

  4. 5% of People Detained By ICE Have Violent Convictions, 73% Have No Convictions

    Cato Institute

  5. Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2020. Annual Flow Report

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

  6. Reality Check: Is deporting of 'bad dudes' at record rate?

    BBC

  7. 100 Days of Making America Safe Again | Homeland Security

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security

  8. Despite Budget Surge, ICE Fails to Make the Country Safer

    Brennan Center for Justice

  9. ICE removes more than 267,000 individuals in fiscal year 2019

    Fox News

  10. Evidence shows DHS claims about deportations since January are not accurate

    NPR

+ 23 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Donald John TrumpUnited States Department Of Homeland SecurityU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

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