DHS admitted its 'Worst of the Worst' immigrant database mischaracterized hundreds of listings after CNN review

On February 19, 2026, CNN reported that the Department of Homeland Security had admitted its "Worst of the Worst" website, which lists roughly 25,000 people arrested by ICE, was riddled with errors after CNN questioned the agency about its own review of the site. DHS, Secretary Kristi Noem, and the White House had heavily promoted the website since its December 2025 launch as evidence that enforcement operations were targeting dangerous criminals.

CNN's review found that while thousands of the listed individuals were described as arrested for or convicted of serious offenses including homicide and sex crimes, hundreds more that DHS branded "worst of the worst" were described as arrested for or convicted of far less serious conduct — single charges of traffic offenses, marijuana possession, or illegal reentry, a federal felony. A DHS spokesperson attributed the mismatch to a "glitch" affecting about 5 percent of the site's entries and said some of those listed under minor charges had additional, more serious offenses not reflected in the database; the agency did not explain what caused the glitch. Then-Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin had separately described the site as a "transparent tool" showing the public "what public safety threats were lurking in their neighborhoods."

Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, discussing a related pattern of DHS publicizing arrest numbers during the agency's Twin Cities enforcement surge, said DHS had taken credit for arrests made by local law enforcement and then transferred to immigration authorities through routine processes. "This is no longer a simple misunderstanding," Schnell said. "At worst, it is pure propaganda, numbers released without evidence to stoke fear rather than inform the public." A DHS spokesperson responded that "all of these individuals have been arrested by ICE and placed in removal proceedings."