Are ice agents more likely to have criminal records than the individuals they arrest

1. The headline on detainees: many ICE arrestees lack criminal convictions

Data compiled and reported by researchers and news organizations in late 2025 and early 2026 show that a substantial fraction of people ICE arrested had no criminal conviction on U.S. records: TRAC’s immigration project reported roughly 65,000 in detention as of Nov. 30, 2025 with 73.6% of a particular detained cohort recorded as having no criminal conviction ^[2], the Cato Institute and its analysis of leaked or public ICE data reported that by mid‑2025 around two‑thirds of recent ICE arrests lacked convictions and that increases in detentions were overwhelmingly among non‑convicted people ^[1], and national press analyses found many high‑profile operations in major cities detained more people without criminal records than with them ^[3].

2. Variation by time, place and dataset — the numbers are not uniform

Different analyses and time windows produce different percentages: TRAC, Cato, Stateline and The New York Times each used different slices of ICE data and produced varying figures — for example, one TRAC snapshot and other local examinations showed periods when only a minority of those detained had convictions, while some state or local reporting found regions or time periods where a plurality or majority of ICE arrestees did have prior convictions ^{[2] [1] [5] [6]}. This heterogeneity matters: ICE operations, policy shifts and local partnerships with police change the composition of who is arrested and when ^{[7] [4]}.

3. Many convictions among detainees, when present, are nonviolent or minor

Multiple outlets note that among those ICE did list as having convictions, a substantial share were for nonviolent or relatively minor offenses — including traffic offenses and DUIs — rather than a preponderance of violent felonies, a point emphasized by local reporting and national datasets ^{[2] [8] [4]}. Analysts who compared the agency’s public statements about targeting the “worst of the worst” with the arrest data concluded the population being detained did not match that rhetoric in many cases ^[1].

4. How the data get shaped: local policing and “book‑ins” matter

Observers point out that ICE’s reliance on local jails, transfers from law enforcement and immigration processing at booking facilities skews the profile of who is detained — many arrests are tied to local policing patterns, pending charges, or immigration‑only violations rather than a straightforward federal criminal prosecution stream ^{[7] [4]}. Researchers have emphasized the role of state and local policy choices in determining how many non‑convicted people enter ICE custody ^[7].

5. Crucial missing piece: ICE agents’ criminal‑record data are not in these reports

None of the supplied sources or datasets includes systematic information about the criminal histories of ICE agents or a comparable personnel‑level record that would allow a statistical comparison between officers and arrestees; ICE’s public statistics focus on arrests and detainee characteristics, not employee criminal‑record data, so the central comparative question cannot be answered from these materials ^{[4] [2] [1]}.

6. Bottom line and implications

Based on the supplied reporting, it is clear that many people arrested by ICE in recent reporting periods lacked U.S. criminal convictions and that policy changes and local procedures have raised the share of non‑convicted people in ICE custody ^{[1] [2] [3]}, but the documents provided contain no data on whether ICE agents themselves have criminal records — therefore the claim that “ICE agents are more likely to have criminal records than the individuals they arrest” is not supported nor refuted by these sources; answering that comparative question would require personnel‑level records or vetted misconduct databases for ICE employees that are not present in the cited reporting ^[4].