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DHS release states 70% of ICE arrestees are convicted or charged

Misleading

Facts are technically correct but framed in a way that likely leads to a wrong impression. Learn more in Methodology.

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ICE arrest and conviction/charging data corroborate that 70% of individuals arrested by ICE were convicted or faced criminal charges for the referenced time period.

Source summary
The Department of Homeland Security announced on January 26, 2026 that it deported three individuals identified as known or suspected terrorists and former members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to Iran. The men — Ehsan Khaledi, Mohammad Mehrani and Morteza Nasirikakolaki — reportedly entered the U.S. illegally in 2024 (two in Southern California and one near San Luis, Arizona). DHS noted the IRGC was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019 and characterized the removals as part of broader enforcement actions by ICE.
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Latest fact check

DHS’s one-line claim ("70 percent of those arrested by ICE are convicted criminals or have criminal charges") is not supported by contemporaneous ICE and independent datasets. Point-in-time ICE detention and arrest data for 2024–2025 show a majority of people in ICE custody had no criminal convictions (TRAC: ~72–74% with no convictions as of Sept–Nov 2025; ICE/independent reads of ICE datasets for mid‑2025 showed roughly 28–30% with convictions or pending charges). ICE’s public dashboards break arrests into three categories (convictions, pending charges, no convictions/pending charges), and multiple analyses found that the share with convictions or pending charges was well under 70% in 2025. Therefore the statement is misleading: it cherry‑picks or misstates data and conflicts with ICE/TRAC analyses for the period cited.

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Timeline

  1. Update · Jan 28, 2026, 09:20 AMMisleading
    DHS’s one-line claim ("70 percent of those arrested by ICE are convicted criminals or have criminal charges") is not supported by contemporaneous ICE and independent datasets. Point-in-time ICE detention and arrest data for 2024–2025 show a majority of people in ICE custody had no criminal convictions (TRAC: ~72–74% with no convictions as of Sept–Nov 2025; ICE/independent reads of ICE datasets for mid‑2025 showed roughly 28–30% with convictions or pending charges). ICE’s public dashboards break arrests into three categories (convictions, pending charges, no convictions/pending charges), and multiple analyses found that the share with convictions or pending charges was well under 70% in 2025. Therefore the statement is misleading: it cherry‑picks or misstates data and conflicts with ICE/TRAC analyses for the period cited.
  2. Original article · Jan 27, 2026
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