Recent data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicates that high-profile immigration crackdowns in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. have predominantly led to the detention of individuals with only civil immigration violations, contrary to claims of targeting unauthorized immigrants with criminal histories. In Chicago, daily detentions of non-criminals surged over 1,400% since September, while similar trends were noted in other cities, including Memphis. Despite DHS asserting that 70% of arrests involved individuals with criminal records, this percentage has decreased monthly, with civil violations becoming the fastest-growing group in ICE detention. About 7% of detainees had violent crime convictions, but being present in the U.S. illegally is typically treated as a civil violation rather than a crime.
