On July 29, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested six undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts who they said were part of a “criminal burglary ring.”
“This burglary ring will no longer be able to victimize American citizens,” said Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a press release. “These criminal illegal aliens should have never should have been allowed to walk free on Massachusetts streets to steal from Americans—And under President Trump and Secretary Noem, they won’t.”
The arrests were part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportations effort, where he has promised to target those with criminal records. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly highlighted arrests of convicted criminals, saying they are arresting the “worst of the worst.”
But data suggests that while overall arrests are up in Massachusetts, a majority of those arrested are not convicted criminals.
In Massachusetts, about 78% of those arrested since Trump’s inauguration had no criminal conviction and nearly 39% had never been charged with a crime, according to a USA TODAY analysis of government data provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request to the Deportation Data Project.
A trend of higher arrests of those without criminal records is being seen nationwide: In other New England states like Vermont and New Hampshire, the percentage of noncriminal arrests has increased. When ICE raids cracked down in Los Angeles, a LA Times analysis found that 58% of those arrested from June 1-10 had never been charged with a crime.
And according to Reuters, ICE detention statistics show the number of detainees arrested by ICE with no other criminal charges or convictions rose from about 860 in January to 7,800 in June – a more than 800% increase. Those arrested and detained with criminal charges or convictions also rose, but at a lower rate of 91%.
How many of those arrested by ICE in Massachusetts are criminals?
ICE arrests have gone up in Massachusetts, with an arrest rate since Trump was inaugurated of over 250% higher than during the same time period in 2024.
But the data shows that they are not all dangerous criminals, despite Trump’s pledges. Instead, more people who have no criminal charges or convictions (1,083) have been arrested than people with criminal convictions (612) this year.
Relatives and members of the community participate in a rally in support of high school student Marcelo Gomes da Silva, who was reportedly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, in Milford, Massachusetts, on June 1, 2025.
“When you have an agenda that sets quotas at 3,000 arrests a day, there are not even enough people that pose a public safety threat to meet that number,” Nayna Gupta, policy director at the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration think tank, told Reuters.
From Jan. 20 to July 31, 2024, 34% of those arrested by ICE were “convicted criminals,” meaning they have at least one criminal conviction. Almost 32% had “pending criminal charges,” meaning they had no convictions but at least one criminal charge. 34% were “other immigration violators,” which means they have no charges or convictions.
After Trump took office until July 29 in 2025, the percentage of convicted criminals arrested by ICE fell to 22% (even though the number of convicted criminals arrested rose) and the percentage of people who had not been charged or convicted rose to almost 39%. Those with pending criminal charges also rose, to 39%.
|
Year |
Convicted Criminal |
Pending Criminal Charges |
Other Immigration Violator |
Total Arrests |
Convicted Criminal Percent |
Pending Criminal Charges Percent |
Other Immigration Violator Percent |
|
2024 |
267 |
247 |
268 |
782 |
34% |
32% |
34% |
|
2025 |
612 |
1087 |
1083 |
2782 |
22% |
39% |
39% |
Who is being arrested by ICE in Massachusetts?
Data from the Deportation Data Project shows that since Trump’s inauguration through July 29 (the last available data set), ICE arrested 2,782 people in Massachusetts.
Of those immigrants, nearly 90% were male and about 10% were female.
Nearly 28% of those arrested were Brazilian, 17% were from Guatemala and about 13% from the Dominican Republic.
The median age of someone arrested was 34.
37 of those arrested (or a little over 1%) were 18 or under, and two were born in 2022.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: How many criminals has ICE arrested in MA? The numbers may surprise you
