Worst of the worst? Most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025 had no criminal charges, documents reveal

A Guardian analysis finds the vast majority of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time from January to August last year had no criminal convictionsA Guardian analysis of government records has found that the vast majority – 77% – of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction, exposing a stark gap between the ’s rhetoric and reality.Within days of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) trotted out a phrase that his surrogates would come to use over and over again: “the worst of the worst.”Fewer than half of the people in the data (40%) had any criminal charge against them, and only 23% had a conviction.Of those who did have a criminal conviction, nearly half were for non-violent traffic and immigration offenses.Traffic offenses alone made up nearly 30% of the convictions, the largest category by far.Some 9% of criminal convictions were for assault, while only 1% were for sexual assault and just 0.5% were for homicide.