Only 3 percent of the 438,537 people detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first 14 months of the second Trump administration had a violent felony conviction in the United States, according to an ABC News analysis of government data. That means approximately 425,500 of those detained had no violent criminal record, including parents of US citizens, long-term residents with minor or no prior offenses, and asylum seekers.

The analysis, based on ICE data obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests by the Deportation Data Project and the University of Washington Center for Human Rights, covers the period January 20, 2025 through March 11, 2026. The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign was publicly justified by repeated references to targeting the “worst of the worst” criminal offenders.

The Numbers

Category	Number	Percentage
Total ICE detentions (Jan 2025 – Mar 2026)	438,537	100%
Had violent felony conviction (US)	13,018	3%
Had no violent criminal record	~425,519	97%

How ABC News Defined Violent Felony

The analysis defined “violent felony” as homicide, sexual assault, robbery, or assault with a conviction in the United States. This is a conservative, narrow definition that focuses on the most serious categories of violent crime. Using a broader definition of criminal history, including non-violent offenses, immigration violations, or arrests without convictions, would produce a different percentage but would not be the measure the Trump administration has cited when justifying its enforcement priorities.

FactCheck.org’s separate analysis, published earlier in the enforcement campaign, found that as ICE arrests increased under the Trump administration’s 2025 directives, a higher portion of those arrested had no US criminal record at all, not just no violent record.

The Administration’s Stated Priority

President Trump and senior officials including border czar Tom Homan and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem have consistently described the immigration enforcement campaign as targeting dangerous criminals, gang members, and the “worst of the worst.” Those descriptions were central to the political justification for the record pace of detentions.

The 3 percent figure does not mean the enforcement campaign is illegal. ICE has broad authority to detain individuals based on immigration status regardless of criminal record. But the gap between the stated priority, targeting violent criminals, and the documented reality, 97 percent with no violent felony record, is the basis of the story’s significance.

According to ABC News, the data shows that immigration enforcement has affected more than 400,000 individuals with no violent criminal history, including parents and spouses of US citizens.

Who the Other 97 Percent Are

The 97 percent without violent felony convictions includes individuals with non-violent criminal records including traffic offenses, drug possession, and minor property crimes. It also includes individuals with no criminal record in the US at all, which FactCheck.org found represents an increasing share of the detained population as the enforcement campaign expanded from an initial focus on criminal aliens to a broader deportation effort targeting any undocumented person regardless of record.

Many in the 97 percent are parents or close relatives of US citizens. The practice of detaining and deporting parents of US-born children raises distinct legal and humanitarian questions about the separation of families where some members are citizens and others are not.

Legal and Policy Implications

The data has been cited in multiple ongoing legal challenges to the administration’s immigration enforcement practices. Habeas corpus petitions filed by detainees and advocacy organizations have argued that the broad enforcement approach goes beyond what Congress authorized and violates due process requirements.

The Supreme Court’s 2025 rulings on habeas corpus rights for immigration detainees created procedural constraints on some aspects of the enforcement campaign. The 3 percent figure is being used in those proceedings to argue that the factual predicate for the enforcement priorities, targeting dangerous criminals, does not match the documented population being detained.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage of ICE detainees had violent crimes?

Only 3 percent of the 438,537 people detained by ICE between January 2025 and March 2026 had a violent felony conviction in the United States, according to an ABC News analysis of government data. The analysis defined violent felony as homicide, sexual assault, robbery, or assault. The remaining 97 percent had no violent felony record.

Where does the ICE detainee data come from?

The data was obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests filed by the Deportation Data Project and the University of Washington Center for Human Rights and provided to ABC News. ICE provided the data in response to the FOIA requests. The analysis covers January 20, 2025 through March 11, 2026.

Does ICE only target violent criminals?

ICE has broad legal authority to detain any person in the country without legal immigration status, regardless of criminal record. The Trump administration’s public justification for the enforcement campaign emphasized targeting dangerous criminals, but the government’s own data shows 97 percent of those detained during the first 14 months had no violent felony conviction. ICE’s legal authority is broader than its stated priority.