CBS Host Incorrectly Corrects DHS’s Noem – By Citing Wrong Numbers from Her Own Network’s Report

Craig Bannister
January 19th, 2026 4:55 PM

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“Is Margaret Brennan stupid or does she just really hate facts?” the White House’s official “Rapid Response” team asked on X.com Sunday after CBS’s Brennan told DHS Sec. Kristi Noem’s she was wrong about DHS arrests of criminal illegal aliens.

On Sunday’s “Face the Nation,” Host Margaret Brennan tried to refute the Department of Homeland Security secretary’s observation that 70% of the illegal aliens arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the second Trump Administration have been criminals.

Seven in ten of those who have been arrested by ICE aren’t people who simply broke U.S. immigration law, Sec. Noem explained to Brennan:

“Every single individual has committed a crime, but 70% of them have committed or have charges against them on violent crimes, and crimes that they are charged with or have been convicted of that have come from other countries that are here illegally, first of all, and then they have committed a criminal act while they've been here or in their home countries, as well.”

“Well, our reporting is that 47%, based on your agency's own numbers, 47% have criminal convictions against them,” Brennan said, trying to claim that DHS’s “own numbers” belie Noem’s 70% statistic.

But, Brennan was actually citing her own network’s numbers incorrectly:

  • Sec. Noem was referring to arrests of illegal aliens nationwide during Pres. Trump’s second term in office.
  • Per CBS, Brennan’s statistic refers to all illegal aliens currently in detention who were arrested at any time in the past.
  • Sec. Noem was citing the percentage of illegal aliens arrested who were convicted of, or charged with, crimes – either in the U.S. or in other countries.
  • Per CBS, Brennan’s statistic is for illegal aliens currently in detention – but only those actually convicted of crimes committed in the U.S. – thus excluding those convicted/charged in other countries and those with outstanding charges in the U.S.

As a CBS News article updated on Friday explained:

“In a statement to CBS News, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said 70% of those arrested by ICE under the second Trump administration — not those currently in the agency's custody — have criminal charges or convictions in the U.S. She said those listed as ‘immigration violators’ could have criminal histories abroad or terrorism ties.”

“You guys keep changing your percentage,” Sec. Noem told CBS’s Brennan, promising to continue telling the American public the truth about the dangers of illegal immigration in the face of Brennan’s efforts to distort facts in order to attack enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws:

“You pick and choose what numbers you think work, but that is the fact, is that 70% of the people that we have detained have charges against them or have been convicted of charges and they need to be brought to justice.

“And we're going to keep doing that no matter how much you guys keep lying and don't tell the public the truth.”

 

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