Is it true ice agents are going after criminals
Executive summary
Yes — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) publicly and operationally says it is prioritizing arrests of people with criminal convictions and has released numerous press statements and case examples of targeting violent offenders, sex offenders, gang members and traffickers [1] [2] [3]. At the same time, independent reporting and data cited by news outlets and watchdogs show a substantial portion of ICE arrests involve people without criminal convictions, and critics warn that expanded hiring, aggressive tactics and deceptive ruses risk sweeping in non-criminals and damaging local law‑enforcement cooperation [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. ICE’s public line: “worst of the worst” is the mission
Since late 2025, DHS and ICE statements have repeatedly framed enforcement as focused on removing the “worst of the worst” — boasting a roughly 120% manpower increase and more than 12,000 new officers to hunt down murderers, pedophiles, gang members, traffickers and other serious criminals, and providing named case examples to illustrate that mission [1] [8] [2] [3] [9].
2. Concrete arrests and publicity: press releases full of violent-offender examples
ICE’s own newsroom has published multiple releases describing targeted operations and arrests of people with violent or sexual‑offense convictions — for example named arrests in Minnesota, Florida and Texas, and multiagency takedowns of trafficking and fraud rings — and highlights individual convictions such as child‑sex offenders and homicide convictions to demonstrate results [10] [11] [2] [8].
3. The data caveat: a sizable share of arrests lack convictions or are immigration‑only
Independent reporting complicates the simple narrative that ICE only goes after criminals: state-level analysis and national reporting show that a substantial fraction of people ICE detains have no criminal convictions or only pending charges; Utah reporting and larger press accounts note that nationwide roughly one‑third of those arrested in some operations had no criminal record, and ICE’s detention population includes many without criminal convictions [4] [5] [12].
4. Tactics, legality and community consequences: critics and watchdogs raise alarms
Civil‑liberties groups document ICE tactics — including “ruses” where agents pose as local police to locate targets — that can entangle families and non-targets and sow fear in communities, while independent analyses of use‑of‑force rules, high‑profile incidents and strained relations with local authorities underscore legal and ethical concerns about how and where arrests occur [6] [7] [13] [12].
5. Operational context: staffing, recruitment and escalation risks
The administration’s aggressive recruitment push and public messaging — including a planned large media campaign and senior officials forecasting a surge in arrests — means enforcement capacity will grow quickly, which supporters argue will remove dangerous offenders but critics warn could incentivize broader, workplace‑and‑community sweeps and attract applicants favoring combative policing styles [5] [1].
6. Bottom line: partially true, but incomplete without context
It is true, based on ICE and DHS statements and the agency’s own press releases, that ICE is actively prioritizing and publicizing arrests of people with serious criminal convictions and has executed operations against violent and sexual offenders [1] [2] [10]. However, independent reporting and data indicate that many ICE arrests and the detained population include people without criminal convictions or only immigration violations, and documented tactics and controversial incidents mean the program’s execution and community impact are disputed and not fully captured by agency claims [4] [5] [6] [12]. The factual answer: ICE is going after criminals as a stated priority and has made high‑profile criminal arrests, but that is not the whole story — enforcement practices, scope, and civil‑liberties implications remain contested and require scrutiny beyond press statements [1] [4] [6].