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What percentage of ICE arrests in 2025 were for individuals with prior felony convictions?
Executive summary
Available sources show no single, definitive public percentage for how many people arrested by ICE in calendar year 2025 had prior felony convictions; several independent analysts and advocacy groups report that a large majority of recent ICE arrests involved people with no convictions or only misdemeanors, while federal statements and some local reporting claim much higher shares of arrests were of people with convictions. For example, The Guardian reported that, across Oct 2022–Nov 2024 only about 21% of arrests had felony convictions (and detailed 2025 breakdowns were not published) [1]; meanwhile the Department of Homeland Security asserted in November 2025 that 70% of ICE arrests were of people charged or convicted of crimes [2].
1. What the government publishes — incomplete but structured data
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) publishes Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) statistics that break arrests into categories of criminal history (including U.S. criminal convictions), but ICE’s publicly released datasets as cited in reporting do not provide a clear, single national percentage specifically isolating “prior felony convictions” for calendar year 2025 in one authoritative summary [3] [1]. The ICE statistics are organized by categories (e.g., convictions, pending charges, no convictions) and by country of citizenship, which means a researcher can compile figures but the agency has not produced a simple headline “X% were felons in 2025” in the sources provided [3] [1].
2. Independent researchers and think tanks: many arrestees had no convictions or only misdemeanors
Multiple independent analyses and advocacy groups report that most recent ICE arrests included a high share of people without convictions or with only minor offenses. The Guardian’s analysis — which notes detailed 2025 breakdowns were not available from the government — found that across Oct 2022–Nov 2024 only about 21% of ICE arrestees had a felony conviction, and that 78% had either a misdemeanor or no conviction [1]. Cato Institute reporting and related analyses emphasized that as of mid‑June 2025 ICE bookings included large numbers with no convictions or only pending charges, noting 204,297 bookings since Oct 1, 2024 and tens of thousands with pending charges or no convictions [4] [5]. Cato’s data through June 2025 reported 59% of arrests in a given window without criminal convictions and very large increases in non‑custodial arrests of people without convictions [5].
3. Local and specialty reporting shows variation across jurisdictions
State and regional reporting finds meaningful variation. The Wisconsin Examiner’s investigation said that in Wisconsin during a 2025 window, 60% of ICE arrestees had convictions and 24% had pending charges — a pattern different from some national snapshots and indicative that local averages can differ substantially from national tallies [6]. This underscores that one national percent for “prior felony convictions” can mask regional enforcement priorities and operational differences [6].
4. Federal messaging and partisan divergence: competing claims
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE leadership have presented a contrasting narrative, at times asserting a high share of arrests are of “criminal illegal aliens.” A DHS press release cited in the sources claimed 70% of ICE arrests were of people charged or convicted of crimes [2]. That federal statement conflicts with independent analyses cited above; The Guardian explicitly noted the government had not released detailed 2025 arrestee breakdowns and that independent compilations showed a much smaller felony share [1]. The discrepancy reflects different definitions (charged vs. convicted; felony vs. any conviction), differing time windows, and political incentives to emphasize either public‑safety or broader immigration‑control narratives [1] [2].
5. Definitions and data challenges that matter for any percentage
Whether an arrest counts as involving a “prior felony conviction” depends on how sources classify offenses (felony vs. misdemeanor), whether pending charges are counted as convictions, and whether arrests transferred from CBP or made at courthouses are included. The sources show ICE separates “convictions,” “pending charges,” and “no convictions,” but they do not harmonize these categories into a single public figure for felony convictions in 2025 [3] [4] [1]. Independent trackers like TRAC produce rolling snapshots about convictions among those in detention, but those snapshots can reflect detainee populations at single points in time rather than the full set of arrests across the year [7] [8].
6. Bottom line and what’s missing
Available reporting and datasets from mid‑2025 onward do not produce a single, universally accepted percentage of ICE arrests in 2025 that were of people with prior felony convictions; independent analyses point to a minority being felons (for an Oct 2022–Nov 2024 sample, about 21% were felons) while federal statements claim a much higher criminal share (70% charged or convicted) [1] [2]. To produce a definitive 2025 felony‑conviction percentage would require either a detailed ICE breakdown for calendar year 2025 explicitly isolating felony convictions (not found in current reporting) or a systematic reanalysis of ICE’s ERO arrest tables by an independent researcher — neither of which is available in the provided sources [3] [1].