On Wednesday's The Weeknight, MS NOW co-host Symone Sanders seemed to call ICE agents "monsters" as she complained about the treatment of illegal aliens who are being detained.
The show also resumed the liberal network's narrative of trying to claim that ICE is not arresting "the worst of the worst," or that President Donald Trump is breaking his promises on immigration enforcement.
After Sanders began the segment by recounting complaints by Democrats about detention conditions for immigrants held in a Newark facility, co-host Alicia Menendez asserted:
So, number one, we were told by this administration, "We're gonna go after the worst of the worst." Leader Jeffries has released a statement about what is happening at Delaney Hall, saying the majority of detainees at that facility have no criminal record. These are not criminals -- they're moms and dads.
A bit later, Sanders jumped in:
MS NOW Misleadingly Pushes Narrative Trump Broke Promise on Deporting Criminals pic.twitter.com/nDlUbVScRo
— Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) May 29, 2026
This is what one of the other letters said: "We feel vulnerable and, in a way, kidnapped, detained without justification. Not to mention that we are being tortured physically and psychologically due to the poor food resources provided in these detention centers. We see with deep helplessness and frustration that our due process rights and defense have been violated, disregarding benefits granted under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution."
The MS NOW host added: "This is despicable. These people are monsters, and someone should do something."
Over the past year, MS NOW's hosts and analysts have repeatedly claimed that the Trump administration is not arresting "the worst of the worst" while routinely ignoring DHS when it frequently releases lists of violent criminal aliens after they are arrested.
Last October, on The Weekend: Primetime, liberal comedian Cristela Alonzo was even given a forum to claim that ICE agents are not going after criminals because the agents are afraid of them:
They say they're going after criminals, but they're not. They're afraid of criminals. ... That's why they go after the tamale lady. That's why they go after the gardeners. That's why -- because they're easy targets. They're not trying to go after criminals -- they're trying to go after the easiest, most vulnerable people they can get.
But, it has been pointed out repeatedly by border czar Tom Homan that it is important to locate and process any illegal aliens because millions not only were allowed into the country by President Joe Biden without proper vetting, but there were millions more known gotaways who evaded Border Patrol entirely to enter the country.
And, even though Trump and administration officials have long promised to arrest and deport any illegal aliens that ICE finds as they search for criminals, MS NOW personalities have repeatedly asserted that Trump promised to "only" go after "the worst of the worst."
On NBC's Meet the Press in December 2024, Trump clearly promised to go after all illegals:
Trump Administration Has Long Promised Mass Deportation pic.twitter.com/3rQPpLotub
— Brad Wilmouth (@bradwilmouth) June 1, 2026
KRISTEN WELKER: Is it realistic to deport everyone who's here illegally?
DONALD TRUMP: We have no choice. First of all, they're costing us a fortune, but we're starting with the criminals, and we got to do it. And then we're starting with others, and we'll see how it goes.
WELKER: Who are the others? TRUMP: Others are other people outside of criminals.
And, in his Republican National Convention speech in July 2024, he promised the biggest mass deportation campaign since the 1950s.
Additionally, claims by the liberal media that most immigrants being arrested by ICE have no criminal record ignore those who have been charged but not yet convicted, or those who have criminal records in their countries of origin who may have come to the U.S. to flee justice. According to DHS, about 70 percent of those arrested have criminal records.
Transcripts follow:
MS NOW's The Weeknight
May 27, 2026
7:51 p.m. Eastern
SYMONE SANDERS: I don't know if you've heard, but the Homeland Security secretary is making a brazen new threat over protests at an ICE facility in New Jersey. Markwayne Mullin says he's drawing up plans to stop processing international flights to Newark airport, and the secretary made those comments following protests at Delaney Hall in Newark, an ICE facility where detainees told lawmakers they are on a hunger and a labor strike. In letters released by advocates, the detainees described overcrowded spaces where the flu is a constant problem.
This week, New Jersey Senator Andy Kim was hit with pepper spray during a clash between protesters and federal agents at the facility. Here's what the Senator told Chris Hayes.
SENATOR ANDY KIM (R-NJ): We cannot give ICE billions of dollars more with no accountability when American families are getting nothing here and nothing to help them with their affordability crisis.
SANDERS: Important to note Representative LaMonica McIver is currently facing 17 years in prison over allegations that she assaulted an ICE officer outside Delaney Hall last year. Senator Andy Kim better watch out. It seems like this is an administration that wants to weaponize the potential oversight from members of Congress.
MICHAEL STEELE: Well, the airline piece is --
SANDERS: That's crazy. Can they do that?
STEELE: This is just a new level of stupid. That's all. Because what will happen? No. Well, yes they can. I mean, they can do that. But here's the problem. When they are sued, either by the airline, the, you know, passengers or whomever, whoever has standing -- there we are -- and it gets in front of a judge, you've got to have a really good rationale for singling out one state and saying that you cannot land an international flight there. Now, can they do it? They can do anything. Who's going to stop them? But the reality of it is, I think that's just a lot of noise at this point. And it's crazy noise because, again, to, you know, Mr. Kim's point, the reality is folks are trying to make things meet up for them -- their bills, their groceries, their kids, you know, soccer games. They're trying to get them their --
ALICIA MENENDEZ: Instead, we're spending money on these facilities.
STEELE: Instead, we're spending money on these facilities. And then again, you don't even have the level of accountability that members show up and they're told, "Wait, come back tomorrow or come back later when we'll accommodate you." They are under law required to open those doors when they show up.
MENENDEZ: So, number one, we were told by this administration, "We're gonna go after the worst of the worst." Leader Jeffries has released a statement about what is happening at Delaney Hall, saying the majority of detainees at that facility have no criminal record. These are not criminals -- they're moms and dads.
To your point, Michael, about the necessity of oversight by Congress, Senator Kim was allowed inside one of the facilities and talked about what it was he saw. This is something he posted on the platform X -- an 18-year-old high school student crying, saying she just wanted to graduate senior year; a pregnant woman unable to get full OBGYN medical support; a woman who had a miscarriage in the detention facility and was left to manage all on her own; a mom not allowed to spend more than a few minutes with a four-month-old baby, a husband of an American citizen, wife and kid, a carton with the milk inside congealed solid -- the expiration date is tomorrow.
You know, Nicolle Wallace often says to me when she and I are going through these stories, like, "What's the -- what's the conversation? What is the conversation we're supposed to be happening (sic)?" And I would -- I would posit that in this case, part of our responsibility is simply to bear witness. There are detainees inside that building. They have no criminal record. They are not being treated in a way that is humane or that is in honor of the Constitution of this country. They are writing letters that they are smuggling outside of that detention center because they want the three of us, and they want all of you at home to know what is happening to them inside that detention facility, in our name, with our tax dollars.
SANDERS: This is what one of the other letters said: "We feel vulnerable and, in a way, kidnapped, detained without justification. Not to mention that we are being tortured physically and psychologically due to the poor food resources provided in these detention centers. We see with deep helplessness and frustration that our due process rights and defense have been violated, disregarding benefits granted under the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution."
This is despicable. These people are monsters, and someone should do something.
MENENDEZ: The most insane part is that DHS is just claiming there is no hunger strike happening
(...)
The Weekend
June 28, 2025
9:38 a.m. Eastern
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Despite the Trump administration's claims they're deporting the "worst of the worst," NBC has new data showing that only a fraction of undocumented immigrants detained have been convicted of sexual assault and homicide.
(...)
Morning Joe
July 31, 2025
6:57 a.m.
MORGAN RADFORD: Now that you know, even though this isn't what Trump said -- even though this isn't what he ran on -- he said it was just the criminals, and everybody is finding out it's not just the criminals even though that's what he promised -- now that you see that that is not the promise that was fulfilled, what do you do about it?
(...)
Chris Jansing Reports
October 8, 2025
1:40 p.m.
JACOB SOBOROFF: I am seeing everyday civilians -- and, you know, granted, they might be undocumented -- taken into custody in the course of their quotidian activities -- walking to the market to pick up meat to make a stew; coffee cups left on the side, as you said, of the road, because they wanted to have a chat before they went off to work, one of the them as a mechanic. It certainly not just the worst of the worst, and I can tell you that categorically, that people are going after here.
(...)
The Weekend: Primetime
October 11, 2025
8:42 a.m.
CRISTELA ALONZO, COMEDIAN: They say they're going after criminals, but they're not. They're afraid of criminals. And that's the thing that think we need to talk -- the criminals that they think -- that they want people to think they're going after, they're not. That's why they go after the tamale lady. That's why they go after the gardeners. That's why -- because they're easy targets. They're not trying to go after criminals -- they're trying to go after the easiest, most vulnerable people they can get.
(...)
Katy Tur Reports
November 13, 2025
3:00 p.m.
KATY TUR: The administration keeps saying "the worst of the worst," but the numbers do not show that, by and large.
(...)
Morning Joe
November 19, 2025
7:31 a.m.
SOBOROFF: It is indiscriminate taking people off of the streets -- not going after the worst of the worst.
(...)
Velshi
November 29, 2025
CHARLES COLEMAN Jr., FILL-IN HOST: The only problem is the majority of people being held in ICE detention centers are actually not the violent criminals that Donald Trump promised to detain and to deport. Out of more than 65,000 migrants booked into ICE detention since October 1, only five percent have violent convictions. Nearly 73 percent have no criminal record at all.
(...)
Chris Jansing Reports
December 11, 2025
12:30 p.m.
JANSING: We've heard over and over again from Kristi Noem -- we've heard it from President -- the President that they are going after the worst of the worst. Are they?
JOHN SANDWEG, EX-ICE DIRECTOR: No, Chris, they're not going after the worst of the worst. ... If you look at just the data itself, despite all available data demonstrating the truth, which is that the majority of these targets are not people with a criminal history and certainly not with a criminal conviction. Over 73 percent of the people in ICE detention today have no criminal conviction. Yet the White House continues to push this narrative
(...)
Morning Joe
January 22, 2026
7:47 a.m.
WILLIE GEIST: But also this idea that they're getting "the worst of the worst" over and over again when they're own internal data shows that's just not the case. If they're arresting rapists and murderers, do it. Get them all. But that's not what's happening.
(...)
Morning Joe
January 23, 2026
8:06 a.m.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Most Americans want the worst of the worst to be taken out of this country, but that's obviously not what's been happening.
(...)
Ana Cabrera Reports
January 23, 2026
10:24 a.m.
JOYCE VANCE, MSNBC LEGAL ANALYST: Donald Trump promised us during the campaign that he would take dangerous people off of American streets. And instead, look at all of the federal law enforcement resources that are being devoted to using five-year-olds.
(...)
Chris Jansing Reports
January 23, 2026
12:06 p.m.
JANSING: One thing everybody can agree on, that little boy -- can we put his picture up again? That little boy is not the worst of the worst that this administration keeps talking about.
(...)
Katy Tur Reports
January 27, 2026
2:15 p.m.
SOBOROFF: They're going to tell you this is the worst of the worst, and I'm -- I will tell you there's nothing true about that.
(...)
Morning Joe
January 29, 2026
6:12 a.m.
GEIST: They're not going after the worst of the worst, as promised.
(...)
7:10 a.m.
MIKE BARNICLE, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: They're not going after the worst of the worst. They're picking off people who have arrived in this country -- maybe yesterday, maybe 10 years ago -- who are not registered citizens of the United States or are in line to become citizens of the United States, and they're being treated like the worst of the worst.
(...)
Ana Cabrera Reports
January 29, 2026
10:08 a.m.
CABRERA: When he says they're going to focus on targeted operations, that's where my mind went. Like, that's what they've been saying all along. Remember? "We're going after the worst of the worst." And yet we keep finding more and more cases of people who have no criminal records being detained, children being detained, American citizens being detained
(...)
Deadline: White House
January, 29, 2026
4:08 p.m.
NICOLLE WALLACE: I wonder if the whole project of going after the worst of the worst has been blown apart as a lie.
(...)
4:16 p.m.
WALLACE: And so the worst of the worst, who he campaigned on deporting and showed videos at his rallies of the horrible, heinous crimes those committed. They're in jails. They are not five-year-olds at preschool. They are not landscapers at work with four Marine sons
(...)
Morning Joe
February 3, 2026
8:01 a.m.
SCARBOROUGH: They're not taking care of the worst of the worst.
(...)
Deadline: White House
February 4, 2026
4:10 p.m.
SOBOROFF: They are not targeting the worst of the worst.
(...)
Morning Joe
February 5, 2026
7:04 p.m.
SCARBOROUGH: ...the fact that they're not getting the worst of the worst -- only seven percent...
(...)
Katy Tur Reports
February 6, 2026
2:11 p.m.
TUR: Is it a desire to arrest the worst of the worst, as we keep hearing about, or is it just to get everybody out. I know they keep saying, "the worst of the worst," but I was at the RNC. It said "mass deportations now," which didn't imply, "We're going to get the violent criminals" -- it implied, "We're going to get everybody."
(...)
2:16 p.m.
TUR: And I imagine that when people were voting, they just, you know, either they were voting on the economy and this was a secondary issue, or, in their minds, they thought that it -- "How could anybody do the things that -- what the President -- that the President is doing now?" They just couldn't fathom that the President would be as cruel as what they're witnessing, and are now starting to rethink it.
(...)
The Weekend
February 7, 2026
9:11 a.m.
JACKIE ALEMANY: The Trump administration claimed they would only go after the worst of the worst.
(...)
PoliticsNation
February 7, 2026
5:17 p.m.
SENATOR TINA SMITH (D-MN): They are not able to go after the worst of the worst because they have ripped that apart.
(...)
The Weekend: Primetime
February 7, 2026
6:01 p.m.
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Despite saying he's going after the "worst of the worst," children bear the weight and trauma of the President's extreme policies."
(...)
8:18 p.m.
NIKKI McCANN RAMIREZ, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: You're seeing a lot of people whom you know said, "Oh, this is what I voted for," initially now realizing that the administration is not going for the bad guys, they're not going for the worst of the worst -- they're going after residents and American citizens, and they're doing racial profiling and terrorizing cities and communities and people's neighbors.
(...)
PoliticsNation
February 8, 2026
5:19 p.m.
GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): I want, just as Donald Trump promised, the worst of the worst to be gone -- you know, the murderers, the rapists, you know, that's all we're going after. If that's all you're going after, then why is there a 17-year-old high school student from Long Island, sitting in a detention center in Upstate New York.
(...)
Ana Cabrera Reports
February 9, 2026
10:53 p.m.
ANA CABRERA: The number of children held in ICE detention on any given day has now jumped more than sixfold since the start of the second Trump administration. Clearly, these aren't the worst of the worst, right? The administration says that's who they're targeting.
(...)
Katy Tur Reports
February 9, 2026
2:48 p.m.
JACOB SOBOROFF: They are not going after the worst of the worst.
(...)
Morning Joe
February 10, 2026
6:51 a.m.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Donald Trump has promised to go after the worst of the worst, but the new numbers suggest way otherwise.
(...)
9:23 a.m.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Less than 14 percent of the nearly 400,000 ICE arrests that occurred during the first year of Trump's second term involved individuals with violent criminal charges or convictions. And that's just worth underscoring, Joe, not only has this become, you know, so terrible politically for this White House and for Republicans, but the numbers simply aren't there. They are not doing what they said they would do.
(...)
SCARBOROUGH: Now, that number has dropped all the way to seven percent -- so about seven percent of the people that are being stopped and detained by ICE -- only seven percent a criminal record -- are violent criminals. So, yeah, the worst of the worst? No, not even close.
(...)
Morning Joe
February 12, 2026
9:31 a.m.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: They didn't go after the worst of the worst.
(...)
Deadline: White House
4:07 p.m.
STATE SENATOR ERIN MAY QUADE (D-MN): They will say ICE is getting out the worst of the worst, and what we have seen is that they're actually targeting the best of the best.
(...)
Deadline: White House
February 13, 2026
5:37 p.m.
LEE GELERNT, ACLU: What we now see is the lie of the campaign that there was going to be an attempt to go after the worst of the worst. We now know it's not true. I mean, you and I have talked about for a while that it was never going to be like that.
(...)
Morning Joe
February 24, 2026
7:24 a.m.
CLAIRE McCASKILL, MSNOW CONTRIBUTOR: They said only the worst of the worst is what they were going to go after.
(...)
SCARBOROUGH: The border is secure. Take it as a victory and go after the worst of the worst, which, right now, according to CAYO studies, constitute seven percent of the people that they capture. That means seven percent are the worst of the worst. The other 93 percent, little kids, grandmas, tourists who are here legally -- people that they throw into these internment camps.
(...)
Katy Tur Reports
March 5, 2026
2:47 p.m.
LAURA BARRON LOPEZ: The immigration enforcement has spread far beyond just criminals and who the administration calls the worst of the worst.
(...)
Katy Tur Reports
March 11, 2026
3:20 p.m.
ASHLEY PARKER, THE ATLANTIC: You're not just getting, you know, as Trump claimed, the worst of the worst.
(...)
Velshi
March 14, 2026
12:32 p.m.
ALI VELSHI: Donald Trump said he was going after the worst of the worst and the rapists and the murderers, and then we found out that's actually not happening, and that American citizens are getting wrapped up and legal immigrants and getting wrapped up...
(...)
The Beat with Ari Melber
March 17, 2026
6:44 p.m.
ARI MELBER: ...what Trump said he was going to do in '24, which was crack down on violent criminals and other immigrants who posed a threat -- which is something a lot of people sounded okay. It's not what they're doing.
(...)
Morning Joe
March 20, 2026
7:42 a.m.
ROSA FLORES: They're not going into -- after the worst of the worst.
(...)
Deadline: White House
April 1, 2026
5:49 p.m.
MICHELE NORRIS: They're not going after the worst of the worst. Instead, they're going after people who, in many cases, have no criminal records at all.
(...)
The Weekend
April 19, 2026
9:26 a.m.
EUGENE DANIELS: We were promised that they were taking the worst of the worst, whatever that means. ... That has never been true. The data has come out since last February that's been clear that that hasn't been true.
(...)
... the fact that the administration is not taking the worst of the worst.
(...)
Chris Jansing Reports
April 22, 2026
1:14 p.m.
DAVID DRUCKER: What they expected from Trump was to close the border, which he did, but also, in terms of a deportation program, to go after criminal aliens -- go after the worst of the worst and to leave -- essentially leave people alone who were in the country working, paying their taxes, and weren't a public safety threat. And that's been the opposite of what this administration has done.
(...)
Morning Joe
May 4, 2026
9:25 a.m.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: ...and it wasn't just what was promised -- what Trump said during the campaign -- "Oh, just the worst of the worst," I'm paraphrasing, "we'll get out." Instead, it was people who have called this country home for years.
(...)
Morning Joe
May 21, 2026
6:50 a.m.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Breastfeeding mothers definitely not the worst of the worst. This is some sick stuff that's happening here.
(...)
Deadline: White House
May 26, 2026
5:37 p.m.
CONGRESSMAN ROB MENENDEZ (D-NJ): Trump had campaigned on the worst of the worst, but I got to tell you, in Delaney Hall in Elizabeth Detention Center, that's not who we're seeing there.
(...)
The Weeknight
May 28, 2026
7:53 p.m.
ALICIA MENENDEZ: We were told by this administration that they were going to go after the worst of the worst. Leader Jeffreys has released a statement about what is happening at Delaney Hall, saying the majority of detainees at that facility have not criminal record. These are not criminals -- they're moms and dads.
(...)
There are detainees inside that building that have no criminal record.
