What share of individuals detained by ICE have only immigration-related offenses versus criminal convictions?
Executive summary
About two-thirds to three-quarters of people in ICE custody in recent reporting periods had no U.S. criminal conviction and were being held for civil immigration violations; precise estimates vary by dataset and date — TRAC’s November 30, 2025 snapshot puts the share with no criminal conviction at roughly 73.6% (48,377 of 65,735) [1], while other compilers and period-specific tallies report figures in the 53–72% range depending on how “criminal” is defined and which population is measured [2] [3] [4].
1. What the headline numbers mean and why they differ
The headline — “what share of ICE detainees have only immigration-related offenses versus criminal convictions” — hinges on how a dataset defines and times the population: TRAC’s detention snapshot measures people in custody on a specific date and reports 73.6% with no criminal conviction [1], whereas other summaries that combine monthly book‑ins, arrests, or different cutoffs show lower or higher shares (for example, one summary calculated about 53% held solely for civil violations as of mid‑January 2026) [2]. ICE itself distinguishes three categories — convicted, pending charges, and no convictions/pending charges — which underscores that counting “criminal convictions” requires choosing whether pending charges or non‑criminal traffic offenses count as criminal history [5].
2. The center of the range: multiple reputable trackers cluster around two-thirds
Several independent analyses align: TRAC, Cato, MinnPost/Gigafact and other researchers concluded that roughly 65–73% of people in ICE detention in late 2025 had no U.S. criminal conviction [1] [6] [4] [3]. Those assessments show that only a minority of the detained population had felony or violent convictions — Cato’s work found roughly 5% had violent convictions and noted a preponderance of minor convictions (traffic, DUI, low‑level drug possession) among the convicted subset [6]. The Brennan Center and other policy groups reached similar conclusions that a substantial majority of detained people lacked U.S. criminal records at the times they measured [7].
3. Recent growth in detention is overwhelmingly non‑criminal in composition
Analysts tracking detention growth during fiscal‑year 2026 report that nearly all of the population increase came from people without criminal convictions: one analysis quantified that 72–92% of growth was among detainees with no criminal convictions or pending charges depending on the time window and metric used [8] [9]. The American Immigration Council and others documented a sharp shift in enforcement tactics — at‑large arrests, worksite raids, and re‑arrests at check‑ins — driving a disproportionate rise in non‑criminal detainees [10]. Those studies cite ICE data showing a marked rise in the share of detainees with no U.S. convictions since late 2024 and through 2025 [10].
4. Why precision is elusive: definitions, data slices, and agency framing
Discrepancies in reported shares derive from three main factors: whether the count is a one‑day snapshot of people in custody versus cumulative arrests/book‑ins over a period (TRAC vs CBS/DHS compilations) [1] [2], whether “criminal” includes pending charges or only finalized convictions (ICE’s categories make that distinction) [5], and whether minor criminal convictions (traffic, DUI) are treated as meaningful “criminal history” in narratives (many analyses flag that a large fraction of convictions are minor) [6]. DHS officials and ICE have also emphasized that arrest populations differ from those who remain in detention, a nuance that affects percentage calculations [2].
5. Bottom line and limits of this reporting
The best-supported, contemporaneous reporting places the share of detained individuals with no U.S. criminal conviction in the majority — typically between roughly 65% and 74% in late‑2025 snapshots and analyses, with other compilations showing about half in some periodic tallies depending on scope and date [1] [3] [2]. Available sources repeatedly note that many convictions among the minority who are convicted are for nonviolent or minor offenses, and that recent detention growth has largely been driven by non‑criminal detainees [6] [8] [9]. These conclusions are constrained to the cited datasets and reporting windows; if more granular, case‑level data or ICE disclosures exist beyond these sources, they were not available in the materials reviewed [5].