If you’re trying to figure out how many illegal aliens in custody have criminal records, good luck because the goalposts just got moved.

According to a report from Just the News, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) out of Syracuse University quietly changed how it reports data in the database used to track detainees’ criminal histories.

The report says a widely used immigration database (run by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse) quietly changed how it categorizes detainees. Instead of broadly tracking people with a “criminal record” (which can include arrests and charges), it now emphasizes “criminal convictions” only according to the report.

According to TRAC’s latest “Immigration Detention Quick Facts,” ICE is holding 68,289 people in detention nationwide – and, conveniently, TRAC highlights that a whopping 73.6% have “no criminal convictions.” Not charges, not arrests – just convictions.

What their new “summary” conveniently glosses over is this: it counts only the 26% of detainees with convictions – but leaves out another 26% who are currently facing criminal charges. That could be rape, DUI, child sexual abuse, or murder.

That puts the real number closer to 52% – more than half – with some kind of rap sheet, whether it’s arrests, charges, or convictions. Funny how that part didn’t make the highlight reel.

Result: the clean distinction between “criminal” and “non-criminal” just got murky – just the way the Democrats like things. Now it’s easier to downplay the numbers depending on how the data is presented.