THE FOLLOW UP
Feb 05, 2026 · dhs.gov
Important News

DHS adds 5,000 entries to public "Worst of the Worst" database, bringing total to 25,000

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Key takeaways

  • DHS announced an additional 5,000 individuals were added to wow.dhs.gov on Feb. 5, 2026, bringing the database to 25,000 entries.
  • The site (WOW.DHS.GOV) launched on December 8, 2025 and DHS says it has received millions of views and wide public attention.
  • Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described the update as part of the administration’s transparency efforts and cited crimes including sex offenses against children, homicide, and human slavery.
  • The press release lists several named individuals, their alleged countries of origin, arrest locations, dates in January 2026, and the criminal convictions attributed to them.
  • DHS added a feature allowing users to search criminal noncitizens removed from a specific state via wow.dhs.gov/[state name].
  • DHS characterized the database as a snapshot of individuals arrested under the Trump administration.

Follow Up Questions

What criteria does DHS use to decide who is included on the wow.dhs.gov database?Expand

DHS says WOW lists noncitizens arrested by DHS/ICE during enforcement operations since the start of the Trump administration and highlights those with criminal histories; DHS does not publish a detailed public ‘‘inclusion criteria’’ matrix on the site beyond describing entries as ‘‘criminal illegal aliens’’ arrested and the site’s focus on the ‘worst of the worst.’

Sources
Does inclusion on the site mean the person was convicted, or could it reflect arrest or charge only?Expand

Entries on WOW display a ‘‘Convicted of’’ field and DHS’s releases refer to convictions, but the launch materials also describe the page as aggregating arrests; DHS does not publicly state a single rule—some entries appear to reflect convicted offenses while the program also catalogs arrests/charges from ICE enforcement records.

Sources
What process exists for someone to request corrections or removal if the information is wrong?Expand

WOW includes a ‘‘Report an Error’’ link and standard DHS contact/FOIA channels are available; DHS site pages (DHS.gov and WOW) direct users to use those mechanisms for corrections but do not publish a transparent appeals or automated removal workflow on the WOW pages.

Sources
What specific data fields and sources are shown on each individual’s wow.dhs.gov entry (e.g., conviction records, dates, locations)?Expand

Individual WOW entries show name, country of origin, arrest location and date, listed convictions/offenses (‘‘Convicted of’’), and sometimes gang affiliation; DHS states the site aggregates ICE arrest/removal records but does not enumerate every underlying records source on each entry (e.g., court docket links are not provided on the site).

Sources
How does DHS verify and display a person’s citizenship or immigration status before adding them to the public database?Expand

DHS explains entries are drawn from its enforcement operations and ICE records; the site lists ‘‘Country of Origin’’ and other immigration-related fields but the public pages do not detail the specific verification steps used to determine a person’s citizenship/immigration status before posting.

Sources
What privacy, due process, or legal reviews were conducted before publishing individuals’ names and criminal histories on the site?Expand

DHS’s public announcements do not describe in detail any independent privacy, due-process, or legal review applied before listing names and criminal histories; the site points to DHS/ICE enforcement records and standard DHS policies (e.g., privacy page, FOIA) but no specific prepublication legal review process is published on the WOW pages or press releases.

Sources
How often is the wow.dhs.gov database updated and how are the totals (e.g., 25,000) calculated?Expand

DHS says WOW launched Dec. 8, 2025 and that the database is being updated (press release notes an additional 5,000 added on Feb. 5, 2026, bringing the total to 25,000); DHS does not publish a public schedule but totals appear to be cumulative counts of records pulled from DHS/ICE enforcement data and updated by DHS as batches.

Sources

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