A textbook example is from CBS. In particular, the headline is misleading. There’s no question in my mind that this is purposely so, and perhaps the most important part of the game. The headline is often either the only thing people read, or the headline and the first paragraph or two, and articles are shaped by people who are well aware of that. Even if a person does read the whole thing, the headline tends to shape that person’s perceptions.
The headline of this particular article is, “Less than 14% of those arrested by ICE in Trump’s 1st year back in office had violent criminal records, document shows.” Wow, the reader is meant to think, I guess the right is lying when it says the focus right now is on criminals. How many people read articles with such a jaundiced eye that they’re aware of the trap there, the words “violent criminal records” and especially the definition of the word “violent”? Most of those who do read the headline with skepticism are probably not going to be Democrat voters and/or Trump haters, because of the phenomenon of confirmation bias.
I read all articles with skepticism, but that’s only because I have to write about them and need to try my best to get it right, and have learned over and over and over again how much of what we read is propaganda. It happens on both left and right, but more often on the left, and of course most of the MSM is on the left.
That’s why I immediately realized the key word there was “violent.”
Let’s get to the article. The first three paragraphs – again, that would be all most people would read – set up the premise that Trump and company are lying:
Less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in President Trump’s first year back in the White House had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by CBS News.
The official statistics contained in the DHS document, which had not been previously reported publicly, provide the most detailed look yet into who ICE has arrested during the Trump administration’s far-reaching deportation operations across the U.S.
The internal DHS figures undermine frequent assertions by the Trump administration that its crackdown on illegal immigration is primarily targeting dangerous and violent criminals living in the U.S. illegally, people Mr. Trump and his lieutenants have regularly called the “worst of the worst.”
It’s only in paragraph four that the reader might get a whiff of what’s going on, and by then a lot of people have either dropped out or have made up their minds that Trump has been lying:
Nearly 60% of ICE arrestees over the past year had criminal charges or convictions, the document indicates. But among that population, the majority of the criminal charges or convictions are not for violent crimes.
But Trump et al never said they were all murderers or rapists, just that many were and that most (not all) have some sort of criminal past. The article goes on; you can read it for yourself. It isn’t till paragraph 9 that you can read this:
Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, said in a statement after this story was published that “Drug trafficking, Distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling are all categorized as ‘nonviolent crimes.'”
I don’t think anyone got the idea that all the deportees are murderers or rapists. But those who’ve committed the above crimes are people most citizens don’t want here and would be in favor of deporting.
When you look at the actual figures, it becomes even more clear:
The figures below illustrate the categories of criminal charges or convictions among the individuals arrested by ICE between Jan. 21, 2025 and Jan. 31, 2026 who had criminal records. The DHS document says it listed the most serious charges or convictions at the time of arrest.
All Other
117,987
Assault
42,847
DWI / DUI
29,929
Dangerous Drugs
22,555
Weapons Offenses
6,146
Sexual Assault
5,365
Burglary
5,053
Robbery
2,725
Homicide
2,107
Kidnapping
1,116
Arson
346
The document also says ICE arrested 22,600 individuals with charges or convictions involving dangerous drugs, while another 6,100 had weapons offenses on their records. Nearly 30,000 of those arrested by ICE had been charged with or convicted with driving while under influence or intoxicated. Another 5,000 arrestees had burglary charges or convictions.
The document says another 118,000 detainees had criminal charges or convictions for “other” crimes. Those could include immigration-related crimes, like entering the U.S. illegally, a misdemeanor for the first-time offense, or re-entering the country after being deported, a felony.
A lovely bunch of “neighbors.”
Often news is reported and the slant is what’s left out. This article is typical of a different and not-uncommon approach, which is to report more or less correctly but towards the latter part of an article, after the propaganda message has been driven home.
I said the article is more or less correct, but as far as I can see it does leave something out, which is the fact that some of the deportees have criminal convictions at home but not in the US.
The CBS article also reports the following, which is almost certainly a result of slanted coverage like this or worse:
A CBS News poll last month found that Americans’ support for Mr. Trump’s deportation efforts had fallen to 46%, down from 59% at the start of his second term.
Bravo, CBS. Mission accomplished!
NOTE: It turns out that one of those people with criminal convictions at home but not here is a person I wrote about two days ago, Irish national Seamus Culleton, who overstayed a visa for about two decades and has been complaining about his detention as a “concentration camp” and yet refuses to go back to Ireland although that’s been offered. Well, guess what? Turns out he’s wanted in Ireland on various charges:
McLaughlin said that he was offered the chance to be “instantly removed to Ireland” but that he “chose to stay in ICE custody” and took steps to “remain in detention”.
She said that being in detention “is a choice” and that the department encourages people in this position to “take control of their departure”.
McLaughlin added that the US is offering “illegal aliens” $2,600 (€2,000) and a free flight to self-deport.
It comes amid confirmation that Culleton had a number of charges against him before he left Ireland in 2009.
The Journal has established, via multiple sources familiar with his interactions with gardaí, that Culleton had a number of interactions with the justice system in Ireland before he moved to the US.
One incident involved the alleged possession for sale or supply of MDMA (ecstasy) and an attempt to get rid of the drugs when being searched by gardaí in 2008.
Culleton was charged with obstruction but did not appear in court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in April 2009, after he had moved to the US. …
On another occasion, Culleton was arrested for his own safety while drunk in Glenmore in 2007.
Separately, another bench warrant was issued for Culleton’s arrest after he failed to appear in court when facing criminal damage charges in September 2007.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday, Culleton’s lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye, who is representing him in his fight to be released from detention, said she had not heard about her client’s charges until this week.
“This is the first time that we’re hearing about that,” Okoye said yesterday. “I can’t speak to a warrant.
“Mr Culleton will not be aware of any warrant that happened after he came to the United States.
“A warrant is not a conviction, a warrant is not a criminal entry, so I will leave it at that until I understand the specific facts of the case.”
So he apparently failed to tell his lawyer about those warrants – at least some of which (and perhaps all of which) occurred before he came to the US and are probably why he left Ireland as well as why he doesn’t want to return. Fancy that.
