America Not Made Safer or Greater; DHS Data Shows that Out of More than 1,000 People Arrested and Detained in Chicago, Only 10 had Criminal Records. Nationally 70% Held by ICE Have No Criminal Record

From [HERE] Operation Midway Blitz, a campaign the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched Sept. 8 claimed it would target “the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in the area.

But the government’s own data and detentions like that of Rosales — a mother of three who has no apparent criminal record — cast serious doubt on whether that’s really the mission.

On Oct. 3, DHS announced that since the operation began in September, more than 1,000 undocumented migrants had been arrested across Chicago and its suburbs — “including the worst of the worst pedophiles, child abusers, kidnappers, gang members, and armed robbers.” However, the agency provided detailed information for only 10 men with a criminal background, about 1% of those detained, making independent verification difficult.

In one particularly jarring raid, on Sept. 30 federal agents with Black Hawk helicopters and military-type vehicles descended on an apartment complex in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. DHS said the location was “known to be frequented by Tren de Aragua members,” a Venezuelan criminal gang targeted by the Trump administration.

According to DHS, 37 people were arrested during the operation; however, only eight of them were confirmed to have a criminal record — and that includes crimes ranging from aggravated battery to retail theft. The agency did not say whether any of those cases resulted in convictions.

In other words, while the administration says it is disrupting transnational gang activity, the bulk of those detained seem to have no serious record. In fact, federal data shows that over 70% of detainees who were being held as of last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement nationally had no criminal convictions. [MORE]