Deportation: The Wrong Way

Analysis of government records has found that the vast majority of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction, contrary to what Trump likes to tell us.

Trump stated that Dept. of Homeland Security and ICE would get rid of “the worst of the worst”. However, those aren’t the only ones being “evicted”. He’s also getting rid of those who have committed no crime other than “being here illegally”, which makes up 77% of those being detained. Yes, these people should be deported… eventually... maybe. It’s not fair that they get to stay and compete for jobs the same as those who went through the process of arriving legally. However, getting rid of those who work as farm hands, janitors, hotel cleaning staff, and other jobs regular Americans do not want to do… well, it’s just stupid.

The analysis is derived via little-known documents known as I-213 forms. Each form represents a person that the administration is attempting to deport. The data contains details of 138,000+ people swept up in the administration’s deportation activities in 2025. The form contains a person’s name, how they entered the country, the number of children and child’s citizenship, and detailed information about the accused person’s criminal history.

Forty percent of those detained did have a criminal charge against them, with 23% having a conviction. Of the 23% with a criminal conviction, nearly half were for traffic violations, or being here illegally. Less than 12% of them (5% overall) had an assault conviction and only ½ % were for homicide. No matter how one wants to make things appear, fact is, overwhelmingly, those targeted for arrest and deportation are not violent criminals.

The documents go against what Trump is claiming, according to Phil Neff, research coordinator with the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights. “It really represents a cross-section of society at large in the United States, of people who have been here for many years and who have close ties to communities.” I agree. I also believe that these immigrants should get to stay, albeit with some type of punishment for evading the system that others lawfully followed.

“This is not about removing the worst of the worst,” according to Chris Opila, staff attorney at the American Immigration Council. “Enforcement is about removing whoever they can to feed a quota, regardless of how long these people have been in their communities, regardless of whether they have stable employment, regardless of what their family situation is in the United States. They’ve decided that they need to remove everyone possible.”

Sad to say, my former Governor, now DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, first used “worst of the worst” for immigration purposes. Let me assure you, not every South Dakotan is happy with her. South Dakota is an Ag state that needs farm workers. Why she would encourage deportation of immigrant farm hands is mind boggling.

Don’t misunderstand me. The Trump administration has apprehended people with criminal convictions, as they should. However, those fitting that description are the extreme minority.

Source used: The Guardian