No.

Available data does not corroborate the claim that 70% of immigrants deported by ICE have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

According to the Cato Institute’s analysis of ICE data, 57% of individuals deported from ICE custody in November 2025 fell into those categories, and almost half of them had only pending charges; 70% of all deported individuals had no criminal convictions. It’s worth noting that across the U.S., 35% of all criminal charges, two-thirds of which are misdemeanors, end in nonconviction. 

ICE data for 2025 is similar. Of the 222,401 releases, which include voluntary returns, 40% had criminal convictions and 22% had pending charges. 

Court records show that only 1.64% of new cases in FY 2026 sought deportation orders on the basis of alleged criminal activity, excluding potential illegal entry. SIx percent of cases that ended in deportation in 2025 were based on criminal charges. Forty-five percent were based on illegal entry.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Oklahoma Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.

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