Families decry ICE arrests of migrants with no criminal records

Families of detained migrants say the crackdown has reached far beyond violent offenders, pulling in spouses of U.S. citizens and parents of citizen children with no criminal history. The pain is immediate in mixed-status households, where one arrest can leave children, rent, and work all hanging in the balance.

Federal data underscore why the backlash is growing. TRAC reported that as of April 4, 2026, 60,311 people were in ICE detention, and 70.8%, or 42,722 detainees, had no criminal conviction. TRAC also said many of the people who did have convictions were cited for minor offenses, including traffic violations.

The numbers complicate the administration’s claim that it is focusing on serious offenders and the “worst of the worst.” By Feb. 24, 2026, PBS NewsHour was reporting that nearly 75% of ICE detainees had no criminal conviction, citing TRAC. NBC News reported that nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records were swept up in immigration operations from Jan. 20 to Oct. 15, 2025, a figure that helped fuel the argument from immigrant-rights groups that the dragnet has widened well beyond its stated target.

The human toll has surfaced in individual cases that resonate across Massachusetts and beyond. PBS NewsHour reported on Jemmy Jimenez-Rosa, a green-card holder who was detained at Boston Logan Airport and held for 10 days after returning from Mexico. Her family described the arrest as an ambush. In another case, Leslie Gonzales told PBS NewsHour that her husband was arrested by agents near Boston, despite the administration’s insistence that it was targeting the most serious offenders.

Those cases fit a broader pattern PBS NewsHour was already documenting in March 2025, when it reported that immigrants with legal status or no criminal history were being detained and deported in the Trump crackdown. Together, the data and the arrests point to a system that is not just removing people with convictions, but also separating families and placing long-term residents in legal jeopardy, often with little warning.