David J. Bier
During his inaugural address, President Trump promised to deport “millions and millions of criminal aliens.” I have a new essay exploring this premise. In it, I note:
There are not “millions and millions” of removable noncitizens who have criminal convictions. Trump has rescinded requirements to focus on public safety threats. Trump is mandating ICE officers arrest a certain number of people per day, even if the officers think the arrests are unjustified. One report found that only half of those arrested on one day last week had a criminal conviction or pending criminal charges. A new report not available at the time of my piece includes data showing that a majority of the 8,200 arrested do not have a criminal conviction of any kind. Trump is redefining an alien with a “criminal record” to mean anyone here illegally, even as he takes away people’s legal status to make them here illegally. Trump is diverting criminal law enforcement to work on arrests of low-level immigration offenders.You can read the entire piece here.
