"Man identified as 'Superman' advocates for apprehension and departure of undocumented immigrants"
In a surprising turn of events, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reported that a significant majority of individuals currently detained by the agency have no criminal convictions on record.
According to recent official ICE statistics from 2025, about 71-72% of individuals detained by ICE have no criminal convictions. This includes those with no criminal record at all as well as some with pending criminal charges, but a substantial portion lack any criminal convictions.
The varying figures (65%-72%) depend on definitions used (e.g., including those with pending charges versus only those convicted) and the exact date ranges sampled. However, the overall consistent finding is that the majority of ICE detainees currently do not have a criminal conviction on record, contradicting messaging that immigration enforcement focuses primarily on individuals with serious criminal backgrounds.
An analysis covering October 2024 to June 2025 found that 65% of those detained had no criminal record, with over 93% never convicted of violent crimes. ICE data from late June 2025 indicates 71.7% of detainees had no criminal convictions, including 27,177 detainees with no known convictions or pending charges, and 14,318 people with pending charges.
It's important to note that only a minority (about 37% as of mid-2025) were convicted criminals, and violent crime convictions made up a very small share (under 7% of those convicted).
The federal law enforcement agency has aggressively ramped up immigration raids since President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Trump has vowed to increase the pace of deportations from the US to one million per year, and ICE has announced recruitment bonuses of up to $50,000 and student loan help for Americans interested in assisting with the administration's deportation drive.
Dean Cain, the former Superman actor who portrayed DC Comics legend Clark Kent and his superhero alias, Superman, on "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" from 1993-1997, has announced his intention to become a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. DHS will swear in Cain as an "honorary ICE Officer" in the coming month, and DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated that Cain is encouraging Americans to become real-life superheroes by joining ICE. Cain himself stated that ICE is arresting the "worst of the worst" and removing them from American streets.
Despite the misconceptions, it appears that the majority of individuals detained by ICE are not the "worst of the worst" as one might expect, but rather a significant number of immigration violators without prior criminal convictions. This raises questions about the focus and effectiveness of current immigration enforcement strategies.
[1] Trac Immigration data, June 2025. [2] Cato Institute report, July 2025. [3] ICE data, June 2025. [4] Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statistics, 2025.
- The majority of individuals detained by ICE, as confirmed by various sources such as Trac Immigration data, Cato Institute report, ICE data, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statistics from 2025, have no criminal convictions on record.
- In recent policy-and-legislation discussions surrounding war-and-conflicts and general-news, there have been debates about the focus and effectiveness of current immigration enforcement strategies given that a large percentage of ICE detainees, as indicated by the aforementioned data, do not have a criminal conviction on record.
