WATCH: Bill O’Reilly Thoroughly Debunk the Frequently Cited ‘Only 14% of Illegals Are Violent’ Argument Leftists Use Against Deportation

Conservative News DailyFebruary 13, 2026

Bill O’Reilly challenges a frequent liberal claim about ICE arrests, arguing that the 14 percent figure cited as “violent criminals” among detainees is misleading. in a dialog with Sid Rosenberg, they discuss how media coverage characterizes ICE’s arrests and which offenses count as violent.

Key points:

– Rosenberg asks why the public isn’t being told how many “dangerous criminals” ICE has removed, while O’Reilly says offenses like drug dealing, domestic abuse, DUI, and even child pornography can be categorized as non-violent, complicating the “14 percent violent” claim.

– CBS News is cited as reporting that only about 14 percent of ICE arrests since Trump’s second term began involved violent criminals, with a detailed breakdown: assault, DWI/DUI, drugs, weapons, sexual offenses, burglary, robbery, homicide, kidnapping, and arson. If all offenses were counted as violent, the total would rise to roughly 29.5 percent; even excluding some categories, the figure remains around 20 percent, and “all other crimes” account for a large portion.

– O’Reilly argues that Democrats use the 14 percent figure to justify abolishing ICE,and he criticizes CNN and other outlets for presenting the statistic in a way he says misleads the public.

– Tricia McLaughlin,Assistant Secretary for DHS,is cited as supporting O’Reilly’s point by noting that several offenses (e.g., drug trafficking, distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling) are categorized as “non-violent crimes.”

– The piece includes social media embeds and quotes that illustrate the ongoing debate over how to classify crimes and the interpretation of ICE arrest data.

– the article presents a contentious view of ICE data and media narratives, arguing that the public discourse oversimplifies crime classifications and that ICE arrests include many offenses that are not universally labeled as violent, which critics say is used to threaten ICE’s legitimacy.

Longtime conservative talk show stalwart Bill O’Reilly just put to rest one of the left’s favorite talking points about illegal immigration – “Only 14 Percent of Illegals Are Violent.”

Daily Caller reporter Jason Cohen posted an exchange between O’Reilly and host of the “Sid and Friends in the Morning” show Sid Rosenberg to social media platform X Thursday where the two spoke about the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in getting dangerous criminals off the streets.

“How about the lies that the media continues to feed to the public about how many actual dangerous people ICE has put away?” Rosenberg asked.

“So, the Democratic Party is now using only 14 percent of ICE detainees are violent criminals. How many times have you heard that?”

“So, here’s the con,” O’Reilly said. “Drug dealing is not considered a violent crime. Child pornography, not considered.

“DUI, you run over someone in your car and the person’s dead, not considered a violent crime.

“Domestic abuse, not considered a violent crime. All theft, everything, not considered.” O’Reilly told the host who was almost in disbelief.

“The Democratic Party knows this. So, they put out a lie that ICE is rounding up poor hotel workers and farmers and then they use the 14 percent number, which is totally bogus to justify abolishing ICE. It doesn’t get more heinous. Now you have CNN doing this, you have the major liberal newspapers doing it. NBC News does it, Good Morning America does it.”

🚨NEW: Bill O’Reilly *SCHOOLS* Sid Rosenberg on Dem “CON” about only 14% of ICE arrests being violent criminals🤯

O’REILLY: “Drug dealing is not considered a violent crime. Child p*rnography — not considered.”

ROSENBERG: “No, no. Stop.”

O’REILLY: “Not considered a violent… pic.twitter.com/G6SzktUHax

— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) February 13, 2026

Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin backed up O’Reilly’s claim in response to a post made by CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss.

“Drug trafficking, Distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling are all categorized as ‘non violent crimes,’” she wrote.

Drug trafficking, Distribution of child pornography, burglary, fraud, DUI, embezzlement, solicitation of a minor, human smuggling are all categorized as “non violent crimes.”

Like we said, ~70% of those illegal aliens arrested under @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have pending… https://t.co/4AUzxGMEhP

— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) February 9, 2026

CBS News put out the 14 percent figure Monday, stating this was the number of violent criminals out of 400,000 illegals arrests since President Donald Trump’s second term began.

The outlets breakdown of offenses is 10.9 percent for assault, 7.6 percent for DWI/DUI, 5.7 percent for dangerous drugs, 1.6 percent for weapons offenses, 1.4 percent for sexual assault, 1.3 percent for burglary, 0.7 percent for robbery, 0.5 percent for homicide, 0.3 percent for kidnapping, and 0.1 percent for arson.

If all of the above were classified as violent crime, the figure would total 29.47 percent.

Even if one were to remove offenses like burglary and robbery or even DWI/DUI, the figure still stands near 20 percent.

There is a separate category for “All other crimes” that makes up a whopping 30.1 percent.

CBS states its source for the 14 percent figure is an internal document from the DHS.

Whatever the case, ICE is not lying to the public. They are arresting people who deserve to be in prison and should be deported.

Democrats, however, seem keen to continue the narrative that ICE are the new Gestapo, scooping up innocent unassuming immigrants whose only crime is being in search of the American dream.