Half of those arrested in immigration raids had traffic offenses or no record: report

About half of the immigrants arrested in early government raids under the Trump administration had either no criminal convictions or had committed minor traffic offenses, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data obtained by The Washington Post.

According to the Post, out of 675 immigrants arrested by ICE in early February, in the days after President Trump took office, 163 immigrants were found to have traffic offenses while 177 had no criminal convictions at all.

However, 80 immigrants were convicted of assault and 57 were convicted for “dangerous drugs,” while two people were also convicted of homicide, according to the report.

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According to the numbers provided to the Post by congressional aides, the majority of immigrants with traffic violations were convicted of drunk driving. Of the 177 immigrants with no criminal record, 66 had pending charges that were mostly alcohol related.

The Trump administration has maintained that tougher immigration policies are necessary in order to eliminate criminal activity it has linked to illegal immigration.

The president’s critics, however, have maintained that tougher immigration policies are counterproductive to stopping crime and mostly impact communities that are not involved in criminal activity.

The raids were a part of a larger Operation Cross Check, a nationwide effort of the Trump administration to deport thousands of illegal immigrants.