Many of the “worst of the worst” criminals touted by ICE Barbie Kristi Noem on a new DHS website have only been convicted of “traffic offenses.”
More than two dozen of the supposed horror criminals whose mugshots are plastered on the site—under a banner declaring they are the “worst criminal aliens arrested”—list traffic offenses as their only crime, a Daily Beast review can reveal.
Those “offenders,” all placed in ICE custody this year, do not appear to have been convicted of serious traffic crimes, as drunk driving, driving while high, hit and runs, and carjackings are specified offenses on the site.
The site lists each person’s name, their convictions, and the city and state where they were taken into custody. It launched with 10,000 detainees, but DHS says it will add to the list “regularly.” A search of ICE’s database shows that many on the site remain in custody in the United States.
There are detainees from every state. Of those arrested, 2,122 were taken into custody in Texas, the most of any state, followed by California, which has 1,524.
Alaska had the fewest, with just three “worst of the worst” arrests, including nationals of El Salvador, Laos, and Somalia.
Noem, 54, is a serial traffic offender herself. During her successful 2010 campaign for South Dakota’s at-large seat in Congress, the Rapid City Journal reported that records showed she had 20 speeding tickets dating back to 1989, alongside other violations, including failure to stop at an intersection and invalid license plates.
Noem, now rumored to be on the hot seat over an alleged affair with her top deputy, has said she was “not proud” of her abysmal driving record and that she would try to be “a better example.” Despite bench warrants being issued when he initially failed to pay fines, they were later cleared. She never lost her license, but is now upending the lives of those convicted of seemingly less serious offenses.
The Daily Beast found 30 people on the site whose only conviction was a traffic offense. Of those, 28 were men from Latin America, including 13 from Mexico, five from El Salvador, and four from Guatemala.
The Beast’s sample of those arrested for traffic offenses also included a woman from Honduras and a man from South Korea.
Across all convictions on the site, the Beast found that Mexicans made up about 46 percent of the detainees listed.
Traffic infractions were not the only minor offenses that landed detainees on the “worst of the worst” list. A Jamaican man was arrested in Tampa, Florida, for marijuana possession, and a Cuban national was picked up in Houston, Texas, for the same conviction, which is not a criminal offense in many states.
The only listed conviction for dozens of others seen by the Beast was “Illegal Re-Entry,” meaning they had previously been removed from the United States—not what most people think of when they hear “worst of the worst.”
The site lets visitors instantly share those mugshots on their Truth Social, X, or Facebook accounts. It went online Monday, with a news release announcing it was “all about transparency and showing results.” Other mugshots are of migrants DHS says have been convicted of murder, manslaughter, and other violent crimes.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement, “As the media whitewashes the facts, day in and day out, our brave men and women of ICE risk their lives for the American people… With this transparent tool, they can see for themselves what public safety threats were lurking in their neighborhoods.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that ICE is targeting the “worst of the worst” migrants in the United States, but the agency is not only seeking to arrest those convicted of drug-related or violent crimes.
That became clear over the summer, when Noem traveled to California as ICE carried out raids targeting day workers in Home Depot parking lots—a request of Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller—and those working for little pay on farms.
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