Math manipulation? Immigration statistics tracker swapped detainees’ criminal record for convictions

The nation’s main independent database for tracking deportation statistics and which is widely cited by media outlets and fact-checkers appears to have recently shifted from tracking detainees with a “criminal record” to “criminal convictions.” 

This new classification, which was also adopted by another standard immigration tracking database, provides figures widely cited by media and fact-checkers to suggest the Trump administration is detaining large numbers of illegal immigrants not suspected of breaking additional laws.

Since President Donald Trump took office last year, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, changed how it analyzed immigration enforcement data, to emphasize criminal convictions rather than criminal records, which can include arrests that never result in convictions. 

Questions arise about Trump's deportation efforts being described accurately 

TRAC, a project started in 1989 at Syracuse University, is known as a gold standard source for reporting on federal government data and is known for compiling federal crime and immigration enforcement statistics. News outlets frequently cite its data to report on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. 

The shift in terminology, which has also been adopted by another relative newcomer to the scene, the Berkeley Deportation Data Project, raises questions about whether the Trump administration’s deportation efforts are being accurately described. 

“[They] changed their own methodology, TRAC did at Syracuse, which is, they used to say anyone with a criminal record or criminal arrest was in the criminal category, and then they would break it down and say, he's [got] a criminal conviction, he's under pending charges, or whatever,” Sean Kennedy, Policy Director of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, told the Just the News, No Noise TV show.  

“They just took the pending charges number out. So when CNN goes and reports it out, they say, oh, only 30% have convictions. What? What a low bar,” Kennedy added. 

The most recent data reported on the TRAC website ”Immigration Detention Quick Facts” indicates that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency currently has 68,289 individuals in detention in the United States. Of these detainees, TRAC reports that the vast majority, 73.6%, have “no criminal convictions.” 

What the summary obscures is that, in addition to the 26% of detainees with criminal convictions, a further 26% of the detainees have pending criminal charges, according to the underlying database on TRAC’s website. This means that approximately 52%, more than half of all current detainees, have a criminal record of some sort – a rap sheet – that includes arrests, charges, and convictions. 

Just last year, TRAC used to highlight detainees with such a criminal record rather than solely convictions. For example, an archived version of the website shows that last February 45.3% of ICE detainees had a “criminal record,” including convictions and charges. It is not clear when exactly TRAC changed its terminology. 

"Defining down what it means to be a criminal alien"

TRAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Just the News. 

Fact-checkers and media outlets have used TRAC or Berkeley Deportation Data Project data to push back on the Trump administration’s claims that it is targeting the “worst of the worst” for immigration enforcement actions, and instead primarily targeting those illegal immigrants not suspected of violating any additional laws. 

FactCheck.org, a major fact-checking platform, published an article in January that said “[while] the Trump administration insists that it is targeting the ‘worst of the worst’ in its immigration enforcement, it has not provided information to substantiate that, and the data that is available suggests the claim has become less accurate over time.”  

The website specifically cites the declining proportion of detainees that have criminal convictions as evidence of a “transition toward arresting a higher percentage of immigrants with no criminal record.” 

“[W]hat we're seeing in these cases is they're defining down what it means to be a criminal alien,” Kennedy told Just the News.