What percentage of current ICE detainees have criminal convictions versus civil immigration violations?
Executive summary
As of mid- to late‑2025, multiple independent trackers and news analyses find roughly 70–73% of people in ICE custody have no criminal convictions; TRAC reports 73.6% of 65,135 detainees had no conviction (data current Nov. 16, 2025) and Migration Policy/other outlets report about 71–72% as of September 2025 [1] [2] [3]. Other analyses of broader arrest cohorts show different mixes—one Center for Immigration Studies breakdown of a larger multi‑year dataset found 36.2% convicted, 12.8% with pending charges, and about 51% “other immigration violators” [4].
1. What the current detention snapshots show: a large majority without convictions
Recent snapshots of the detained population—drawn from ICE daily population reporting and independent trackers—consistently show that roughly seven in ten people currently held by ICE do not have a U.S. criminal conviction: TRAC reports 47,964 of 65,135 detained (73.6%) had no criminal conviction as of Nov. 16, 2025 [1]; Migration Policy reports 71% had no conviction as of September 2025 [2]; KFF cites 72% with no criminal convictions as of September 2025 [3]. These numbers reflect the composition of people inside detention at particular moments, not the full universe of arrests over time [1] [2] [3].
2. Why these “point‑in‑time” shares can diverge from arrest‑period breakdowns
Point‑in‑time detention counts differ from multi‑year arrest tallies because detention stays vary by case type and processing speed. A large share of those detained at a given date can be immigration‑only cases (final orders, re‑entries, administrative mandatory detentions) even if past arrest statistics across months or years show a higher share with convictions. CIS’s analysis of a half‑million‑plus arrests over a multi‑year span found 36.2% convicted, 12.8% pending charges and about 51% “other immigration violators,” illustrating that different datasets and timeframes yield different percentages [4].
3. Policy changes driving the composition of the detained population
Analysts link the shift toward detaining more people without criminal convictions to administration policy choices expanding interior enforcement and redefining who is subject to mandatory detention. Migration Policy reports a July 2025 memo broadened groups subject to mandatory detention and notes detainee totals rose from about 39,000 at the start of 2025 to roughly 61,000 by late August, increasing the share held without criminal convictions [2]. News reports and NGOs attribute surges in arrests of non‑convicted immigrants to ICE priorities and local enforcement transfers [5] [6].
4. Differences in what “no criminal conviction” means across sources
Sources caution that “no criminal conviction” in ICE reporting can include people with minor traffic offenses, pending charges, or foreign convictions, and ICE’s public categories mix re‑entry or final‑order immigration cases into the non‑convicted bucket [1] [7] [4]. TRAC notes many convicted detainees’ offenses are minor, including traffic violations [1]. CIS’s disaggregation shows substantial shares with pending charges or classified as “other immigration violators,” stressing nuance in labels [4].
5. Competing narratives and potential agendas in coverage
Advocates and research groups emphasize humanitarian and due‑process concerns about detaining largely non‑convicted people, citing the 70%‑plus figures as evidence of a shift away from targeting public‑safety threats [2] [3] [8]. Conversely, government and enforcement defenders stress rising arrest totals, transfers from local partners, and the goal of removing people in violation of immigration laws—points found in reporting but not always spelled out in the detention‑composition headlines [5] [9]. Each source reflects institutional perspectives: TRAC frames its data as independent tracking [1]; CIS offers a different timeframe and framing emphasizing convicted‑offender shares [4].
6. What’s missing or unresolved in current reporting
Available sources do not mention a single standardized national breakdown that simultaneously reconciles point‑in‑time detention counts, booking (book‑in) arrests, pending charges, the severity of convictions, and transfers from state/local custody across identical timeframes; ICE’s public pages enumerate categories but do not produce one unified reconciliation that appears in these independent reports [7]. Many outlets flag limitations—differences in timeframes, facility types excluded from reporting, and the mix of minor vs. serious convictions—underscoring that precise comparisons require matched datasets [1] [2] [3].
Bottom line: Multiple contemporaneous trackers report roughly 70–74% of people in ICE detention lack a U.S. criminal conviction at specific points in 2025 [1] [2] [3], while multi‑year arrest analyses show a different composition (about 36% convicted in one CIS multi‑year breakdown), meaning the answer depends on whether one looks at the detained population at a snapshot or at broader arrest cohorts over time [4].