The federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is continuing to arrest an increasing number of immigrants without any criminal history, according to recent federal government data, demonstrating a further dramatic surge in this trend.

On Monday, June 23, ICE's detention level was at over 140% capacity, since Congress last allocated 41,500 detainee beds for the agency, figures released on Friday show. The latest available data, released by ICE contradicts administration officials’ frequent assertions that the agency is prioritizing the pursuit of criminals in its immigration enforcement operations.

The federal statistics show nearly half - 47% - of those currently detained by ICE lack a criminal record and fewer than 30% have been convicted of crimes, a sign of the widening scope of the administration's escalating crackdown on illegal immigration. On the campaign trail, the Republican candidate for President vowed to expel dangerous criminal migrants, though top officials in his administration have said no one in the U.S. illegally will be immune from deportation.

Being undocumented in the United States is a civil infraction, not a criminal offense. But the current presidential administration has continued to push the narrative that they are targeting “criminal aliens” in their push to deport undocumented immigrants, conflating those who are only undocumented with those with criminal histories. Those seeking to stay in the US, through legal means, have also been targeted.

The current detention level is a 50% increase from the last days of the Biden administration, when ICE was holding around 39,000 detainees. Figures show it has mainly been driven by ICE arrests in the interior of the country, as opposed to transfers of migrants who just crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, where illegal crossings have dropped to historic lows.

Austin Kocher, a professor at Syracuse University who studies the U.S. immigration system, said he's worried about conditions in ICE detention deteriorating amid the rapid expansion in the detainee population. "I am concerned about ICE's ability to comply with the basic standards of civil detention or provide appropriate due process to immigrants; both of which the administration has so far treated as optional rather than required by law."