Immigrants with no criminal convictions represent sharpest growth in ICE detention population

President Trump is enacting a mass deportation campaign promised to be the largest in U.S. history. New data is giving a clearer picture of exactly what that looks like: at least 56,000 immigrants are being held in ICE detention.

According to the Deportation Data Project, a group that collects immigration numbers, about half the people in detention don't have criminal convictions. That's close to 30,000 people in detention, without a criminal record — the group that has grown the most in recent months.

"You listen to Tom Homan and Stephen Miller, they're saying things like they are going after the worst of the worst, the people who are murderers," says UCLA Professor Graeme Blair, referring to President Trump's 'Border czar' Tom Homan and key White House Aide Stephen Miller. "That's just not what the data says about the people that they are actually arresting."

In the first few months of the Trump administration, the number of detentions was around the same as during the Biden administration. But in recent weeks, there's been a push to detain more people, spearheaded by the recent goal of 3,000 ICE arrests per day.

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According to Professor Blair, one of the directors of the Deportation Data Project, the ICE raids in Los Angeles marked a turning point: people without criminal records were increasingly being arrested. In fact, NPR's review of ICE data found that the number of people without criminal convictions in detention nearly doubled since May — more than any other group of detainees.

NPR reached out to the Trump administration for comment and received no response. At a press conference last week, both the president and Attorney General Pam Bondi said the focus is on violent criminals. But there has also been consistent messaging from government officials warning that there will be collateral immigration arrests, and that being in the U.S. without legal status is reason enough for detention and deportation.

For many, this policy has meant an upending of decades of life, community and business in the U.S. Such is the case of Pastor Maurilio Ambrocio from Guatemala. Ambrocio had lived in the U.S. without legal status for 30 years. In addition to his religious work, he had a landscaping company. He had no criminal record.

Ambrocio had what is called a stay of removal, which required him to check in with immigration officials at least once a year, let them know he was employed and hadn't committed any crimes. He'd been doing that for 13 years.

A few months ago, at a regular check-in he was arrested and placed in detention. Last night he was deported back to Guatemala.

NPR has been following Ambrocio's case closely, and speaking to members of his community. Several of his neighbors said they were heartbroken to find out the news of Ambrocio's detention. Some of them were Trump voters who expressed concern for the nature of this immigration crackdown.

"I'm not necessarily comfortable with where we're at right now", said Greg Johns, who lives across the street from the Ambrocio family. He voted for Trump, but is feeling disappointed. "You're going to take a community leader, a pastor, a hard working man … what, did you need a number that day?"

Johns is not alone. There are indications that American views on immigration control are shifting. While last year, a Gallup poll found that 55% of Americans wanted less immigration, a recent poll by NPR with PBS News and Marist shows that 52% of Americans disapprove of Trump's current approach to immigration enforcement.

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