DHS Reports Nearly 480,000 Arrests, 70% with Criminal Records
President Donald Trump ran on a pledge to carry out widespread removals of illegal aliens, and the new administration says it’s moving aggressively to keep that promise. Officials point to a large number of arrests as evidence that enforcement is back at scale.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem just announced that, since the new administration began in January, nearly half a million illegal aliens have been apprehended by federal agents. That figure is being presented as a baseline for tougher, broader enforcement going forward.
Officials also push back against the narrative that federal agents are indiscriminately sweeping up mostly innocent people at random checkpoints. They report roughly 70% of those arrested had pending criminal charges or prior criminal convictions for offenses committed inside the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a release highlighting a set of nine of the “worst of the worst” offenders arrested in Florida this year. The cases include a range of violent and sexual crimes, showing the administration’s focus on serious offenders.
“President Trump unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” Secretary Noem said in a statement. “Some of the criminals arrested include illegal aliens convicted of incest with a minor, homicide, sexual assault of a minor, and domestic violence.”
Noem also emphasized the broader arrest pattern in stark numbers. “70 percent of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S. This statistic doesn’t even include foreign fugitives, illegal aliens convicted of crimes in other countries, gang members, and suspected terrorists,” she added.
Secretary Noem held a press conference in Sarasota, Florida, to present the details directly to reporters and the public. “Since January, the Department of Homeland Security has arrested over 480,000 criminal illegal aliens — 70 percent of those individuals have criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges,” Noem told reporters.
She made clear that DHS and ICE are prioritizing those judged to pose the most danger to communities. “We are not going to let these individuals terrorize our streets anymore and we’re not going to let them make victims out of families that live in this country,” the secretary added before outlining several particularly egregious cases.
Secretary Noem also shared a brief portion of the press conference in an , in which she wrote, “Today marks nine months since @POTUS Trump has been in office. What our law enforcement has accomplished for the American people, under President Trump, is nothing short of extraordinary.” “Over 480,000 criminal illegal aliens have been arrested — 70% of those individuals have been convicted or have pending charges,” she added. “We will continue to fulfill @POTUS Trump’s promise to Make America Safe Again, secure our borders, and protect our people.”
The administration says the current pace averages roughly 53,000 arrests of criminal illegal aliens per month across DHS components. If that tempo holds, the count projects to more than 2.5 million arrests over the course of a second Trump term, a figure officials present as proof of sustained enforcement intensity.
https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/1980383076136988700
