'Half of immigrants held had no criminal record or committed minor offenses'

HOUSTON: About half of the 675 immigrants arrested in raids across the US after President Donald Trump took office had either no criminal records or had committed minor traffic offenses, according to a media report.

The Washington Post, citing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data provided by congressional aides, said the majority of the immigrants with traffic violations were convicted of drunk driving.

Out of the 675 immigrants arrested by ICE in early February, 163 were found to have traffic offenses while 177 had no criminal convictions at all.

However, 80 immigrants were convicted of assault and 57 were convicted for "dangerous drugs", while two people were also convicted of homicide, according to the report.

Of the 177 immigrants with no criminal record, 66 had pending charges that were mostly alcohol related.

The Trump administration has maintained that tougher immigration policies are necessary in order to eliminate criminal activity it has linked to illegal immigration.

The president's critics, however, have maintained that tougher immigration policies are counter-productive to stop crime and mostly impact communities that are not involved in criminal activity.

The raids were a part of a larger Operation Cross Check, a nationwide effort of the Trump administration to deport thousands of illegal immigrants.