News / Human Rights

Half of immigrants arrested in US have no criminal record: Report

Saturday, 29 April 2017 12:57 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 29 April 2017 6:42 PM ]

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrest a suspect during an operation in February 2017. (Photo by AP)

A majority number of immigrants arrested across the United State during the early days of the administration of President Donald Trump, either have no criminal convictions or only committed traffic offenses, a new report says.

At least 675 immigrants were arrested in February across the US in the days after Trump took office on January 20. About half of them were arrested without being convicted of any crime or had committed traffic offenses, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data provided by congressional aides, 177 immigrants who were detained had no criminal convictions at all.

The largest group of 163 of detained immigrants were found to have traffic offenses; over 90 percent of them involved drunk driving, ICE said.

A section of the border fence on the US-Mexico border in California was pictured in February. (Photo by AFP)

Eighty immigrants however had been convicted of assault and 57 others convicted of "dangerous drugs," according to the report. Only two people had bee convicted of homicide,

“That makes me so angry,” said Kica Matos, a spokeswoman for the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, which is an organization advocating for immigrant rights.

She said that the data “confirms our worst fears, which is that this administration is really trying to deport as many as possible regardless of whether they have a criminal record.”

Back in February, US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said that out of the more than 680 people arrested, around 75 percent have criminal records, ranging from homicide to drunk driving.

US police arrest a protester during a rally attended by immigrant residents and activists on February 23, 2017 in New Jersey. (Photo by AFP)

Trump took several controversial steps against immigration soon after he took office in January.

Less than a week later, he signed a controversial executive order which banned people from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Iraq and Syria.

The ban halted after a federal court blocked his order. Trump however signed a revised travel ban order in early March.

He also ordered the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico and authorized a crackdown on US cities that shield illegal immigrants.

The president who vowed during his campaign to deport 2 million to 3 million immigrants with criminal records, spread terror and panic among immigrant communities, according to rights groups. His anti-immigration policies also sparked mass protests across the world.

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