Americans expect their government to provide accurate information. This is especially true for federal agencies tasked with enforcing our laws.

Transparency matters. When officials manipulate statistics, they undermine public trust. Immigration policy remains one of our nation’s most contentious issues.

Senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have now accused the Biden administration of deliberately misrepresenting data to make ICE arrests appear higher than they actually were. This shocking revelation (but are we really surprised?) came during a press call where ICE officials detailed the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts during his first 50 days back in office.

“[The Biden administration was] purposely misleading the American people by categorizing individuals processed released into the interior of the United States as ICE arrests,” ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons said. “Comprehensive review was done internally here with ICE and we found tens of thousands of cases that were recorded as arrests, when in fact, these instances were illegal aliens that were simply processed and released into the American communities.”

The Biden administration—in what I can only describe as statistical sleight of hand—counted “pass-through” arrests in their statistics. These were cases where illegal immigrants were processed by ICE but then released into American communities without any actual enforcement action taken.

Biden’s Numbers Game Exposed

ICE reported 113,431 administrative arrests during fiscal year 2024 under the Biden administration. However, officials now reveal the “vast majority” of this number included these “pass-through” arrests.

“They just passed through ICE before they were released into the interior and were told to report to an ICE office,” a senior ICE official explained. “None of these arrests were made by ICE.”

This practice created a false impression of enforcement while actually allowing illegal immigrants to enter American communities. Let that sink in—they counted people they released as “arrests.” You truly can’t make this stuff up.

The contrast with current enforcement is striking. In just 50 days under President Donald Trump, ICE has made 32,809 arrests of illegal immigrants—none of which include “pass-through” arrests. That’s what real enforcement looks like.

The Biden administration’s misleading statistics masked a troubling reality. Many of the released migrants were dangerous criminals.

“Many” of those released “ended up being violent criminals and gang members profiled by the news,” according to ICE Acting Director Lyons. How’s that for a public safety strategy?

Of the arrests made during Trump’s first 50 days back in office, nearly half were convicted criminals. Another 1,000 had pending criminal charges.

Perhaps most alarming, 1,155 of those arrested were suspected gang members—nearly two-and-a-half times the number arrested during the same period last year under Joe Biden. That’s what happens when you let ICE agents do their jobs. Go figure!

Unleashing ICE to Do Its Job

The Trump administration has rapidly reversed Biden-era policies that hampered enforcement. And thank goodness for that.

When Biden took office in January 2021, he issued executive orders dismantling Trump’s border enforcement apparatus. He even attempted a 100-day moratorium on deportations. Remember that?

“During the Biden administration, ICE officers typically tasked with identifying removable public safety threats were instead reassigned to processing this unprecedented amount of illegal aliens that were crossing our southern border,” Lyons explained.

Trump has now restored ICE’s enforcement capabilities. His administration has made so-called “sensitive locations” fair game for deportation officers, giving them greater freedom to conduct enforcement actions.

The administration has also marshaled resources from other federal agencies to assist with immigration enforcement. Indeed, this is a whole-of-government approach to addressing the crisis.

This policy shift has already shown significant results in apprehending criminals who had previously been allowed to remain in the country.

Americans deserve honest reporting from their government. The revelation that the Biden administration manipulated statistics to create a false impression of enforcement raises serious questions about transparency.

More importantly, the current enforcement efforts demonstrate that effective immigration policies can significantly impact public safety by removing dangerous criminals from American communities.

Key Takeaways:

• Biden administration counted migrants who were processed and released as “ICE arrests” despite no enforcement action.
• Trump’s administration arrested nearly 33,000 illegal immigrants in just 50 days, with almost half being convicted criminals.
• Gang member arrests increased 2.5 times compared to the same period under Biden.
• Policy changes have empowered ICE agents to effectively enforce immigration laws and protect communities.

Source: Daily Caller