Fact check: How many ICE arrest have had criminal records and who is keeping track or providing oversight to ICE activities

1. Summary of the results

The data on ICE arrests with criminal records presents conflicting statistics from different sources. According to recent data, approximately 37% of ICE arrests in July 2025 involved people with no U.S. criminal convictions or pending charges, with about 30% having no criminal charges at all ^[1]. This is supported by detention data showing that 70.4% of individuals held in ICE detention have no criminal conviction, with many of those who were convicted committing only minor offenses ^[2].

However, the Department of Homeland Security claims that 70% of ICE's arrests have been of illegal aliens convicted or charged with crimes ^[3], which directly contradicts the other sources. Historical data from the first quarter of FY 2024 shows that criminal arrests as a share of total arrests increased from 34% to 61% compared to the same period in FY 2023 ^[4].

Regarding oversight, ICE maintains an online statistics dashboard that provides data on arrests, detention, alternatives to detention, and removals ^[4]. However, the agency has stopped publishing statistics on transgender people in detention despite being mandated by Congress to do so ^[5]. Congressional oversight includes efforts by Senator Durbin who has raised concerns about immigration detention expansion and the need for transparency ^[6]. Additionally, Ranking Members Robert Garcia and Summer L. Lee have demanded explanations from the Department of Homeland Security regarding ICE's use of masks and unmarked vehicles ^[7].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several critical pieces of context:

• ICE has a documented history of data omission, particularly regarding vulnerable populations like transgender individuals, making complete oversight challenging ^[5]
• Legal advocacy groups have had to pursue court cases to compel ICE to disclose key data, such as the Immigration Justice Clinic's victory forcing disclosure of data on Black immigrants in detention ^[8]
• ICE's enforcement tactics have evolved to include controversial methods like using masks and unmarked vehicles, which has raised constitutional concerns about due process and public trust ^[7]
• The definition of "criminal record" varies significantly - many individuals classified as having criminal records may have only minor offenses, while others in detention have no convictions at all ^[2]

Different stakeholders benefit from emphasizing different statistics:

• The Department of Homeland Security benefits from highlighting the 70% figure of arrests involving individuals with criminal charges to justify enforcement actions ^[3]
• Immigration advocacy organizations benefit from emphasizing that over 70% of detainees have no criminal convictions to argue against mass detention policies ^[2]
• Congressional Democrats like Senator Durbin benefit from highlighting transparency gaps to push for increased oversight and accountability measures ^[6]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself doesn't contain misinformation, but it fails to acknowledge the significant data inconsistencies and transparency issues that make answering it definitively challenging. The question assumes that reliable, comprehensive tracking exists when in fact:

• ICE has selectively omitted data on vulnerable populations despite congressional mandates ^[5]
• Conflicting statistics exist between government sources and independent analyses, with differences as large as 30-40 percentage points ^{[1] [3]}
• Legal action has been necessary to force disclosure of basic detention data, indicating systemic transparency problems ^[8]

The framing also doesn't account for the evolving nature of ICE enforcement priorities and the fact that arrest patterns have changed significantly over time, with criminal arrests as a share of total arrests nearly doubling in recent years ^[4].