CBS Evening News inverts its network's own reporting on ICE arrestees’ low rates of violent criminal histories
A CBS Evening News segment wildly distorted CBS News’ own reporting, incorrectly suggesting to viewers that a much higher percentage of people held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have violent criminal histories than is actually the case.
On February 9, CBS News published an exclusive report under the headline: “Less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump’s 1st year back in office had violent criminal records, document shows.” The article stated that although roughly 60% of ICE arrestees had criminal charges or convictions, “the majority of the criminal charges or convictions are not for violent crimes.” For example, about 1.4% of people held by ICE have been accused or convicted of sexual assault, and about 0.5% have been accused or convicted of homicide. By contrast, 7.6% percent of ICE arrestees with a so-called criminal history simply have a DUI.
The Department of Homeland Security data undercuts a central, load-bearing myth deployed by right-wing media and the Trump administration to justify its nationwide crackdown on immigrant communities — namely, claims that ICE and Border Patrol are going after the “worst of the worst.” In fact, nearly 40% of people in ICE custody have no violation other than a civil immigration infraction.
Viewers of CBS Evening News on February 10 got an entirely inverted picture, one that more closely aligns with the Trump administration’s preferred narrative.
“ICE arrested nearly 400,000 people in President Trump’s first year in office,” said anchor Tony Dokoupil. “Of those, nearly 60% had criminal histories, meaning charges or convictions, including many for serious crimes such as drug trafficking and child pornography, and several thousand cases involving rape or murder.”
Dokoupil and his producers here are being wildly misleading. The relatively low percentages of ICE arrestees charged or convicted of murder or sexual assault are noted above. The CBS News article doesn’t specify the number of people accused or convicted of child sexual abuse material, though that would likely be captured in the data around sexual assault. The report also doesn’t list rates for drug trafficking per se, though it would presumably be a subset of charges or convictions for “dangerous drugs,” which it lists at 5.7%
Dokoupil then contradicted the very framing CBS Evening News led with. “At the same time, however, less than 14% had violent criminal records and nearly 40%, more than 150,000 people, had civil immigration offenses but no criminal history at all,“ Dokoupil said.
CBS Evening News here is attempting to have it both ways. The introductory copy and accompanying graphics paint a picture of the Trump administration prioritizing threats to public safety, and the subsequent clarification acts as little more than an afterthought. Immigrants are situated first and foremost as a threat, an impression barely mitigated with a little cover-your-ass language at the end.