Trump Administration Is Touting Migrant Arrests, But New Data Shows Many Were Already Behind Bars

In the early weeks of the Trump administration, the president, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), flaunted at making 72 arrests of undocumented migrants. But a new Washington Post investigation reveals that at least half of the detainees were already in prison, some dating back to the 1990s.

In the first months of the administration, ICE agents have made their way into cities and towns, often with cameras and celebrity live-streamers, to arrest migrants they say pose a threat to Americans. Border czar Tom Homan has asserted the move has made neighborhoods safer and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has taken credit for getting "these scumbags off of American streets."

In the first weeks since Trump took office, the administration took to social media to post the initial arrests of migrants it said were criminals as part of stats on ICE's immigration arrests. Those efforts included detainees' mug shots in prison-orange frames alongside a partial list of their crimes. The administration labeled them as "some of the worst."

But the new Washington Post investigation reveals that of the 72 men they posted on their social media, at least 36, or half, were in state prisons or local jails when ICE said they arrested them. Another 17 were on parole or probation after serving years in prison. And at least a dozen, but possibly more, had been deported before, some as many as four times.

For instance, Ever Villafañe Martinez, who had been in federal prison since 2009, was among those mentioned by the administration during its first weeks in office. The onetime drug kingpin from Colombia was convicted 15 years ago of conspiracy to funnel cocaine into the U.S. through Mexico and sentenced to life in prison. The White House announced his arrest in February, disclosing that his punishment was reduced to 240 months, and he was taken into immigration custody to be deported.

Interestingly, the Post's findings shows that a similar percentage of the nearly 17,000 immigration arrests made during the same time period were already in jail, contrary to the Trump administration's assertions that they were making most arrests in American communities. The investigation explains that hints of inmates already being incarcerated are in the White House's photos. Some inmates are dressed in prison uniforms, while others appear against a backdrop of cinder-block walls or industrial doors.

The Department of Homeland Security said on March 13 that ICE had arrested approximately 33,000 immigrants in U.S. cities and towns since Trump took office, but haven't released all their names or details, such as where they were arrested or specific criminal histories.

These cases amplify the false narrative the administration is trying to push painting undocumented immigrants as violent criminals, even though ICE's data last year showed that the "millions" of criminals that Trump wishes to deport do not exist.

At the same time, in some cases the White House, ICE arrested the immigrants before they had gone on trial, or, if convicted, completed their sentences, which analysts say is a worrisome trend.

Doris Meissner, immigration commissioner in the Clinton administration, said arresting people before their criminal cases are completed is "subverting the aims of the criminal justice system." Victims deserve closure and perhaps restitution, she told the Post, and the criminal system merits respect.

"You have no idea what their origin country is going to do with them," said Meissner, now a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. "They may very well have been dangerous people, and they should be fulfilling their sentence."