President Donald Trump was elected in part on a promise to conduct mass deportations of illegal aliens, and while there remains plenty of work to do to fulfill that vow, the administration appears to be off to a strong start.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem just announced that, since the new administration began in January, nearly half a million illegal aliens have been apprehended by federal agents, according to Newsmax.

And, contrary to the left's narrative that federal authorities are indiscriminately rounding up generally innocent migrants for deportation, roughly 70% of those arrested had pending criminal charges or prior criminal convictions for other illegal activities committed within the United States.

Around 70% of illegal aliens arrested have prior criminal records

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a press release that highlighted nine of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal alien offenders who'd been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Florida alone over the year thus far.

Their criminal offenses ranged from domestic violence and drug possession to murder and sex crimes against children, and several of those named had lengthy rap sheets and multiple counts against them.

"President Trump unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens," Secretary Noem said in a statement. "Some of the criminals arrested include illegal aliens convicted of incest with a minor, homicide, sexual assault of a minor, and domestic violence."

Noem added, "70 percent of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens convicted or charged with a crime in the U.S. This statistic doesn’t even include foreign fugitives, illegal aliens convicted of crimes in other countries, gang members, and suspected terrorists."

More than 480,000 arrested so far

Secretary Noem also held a press conference in Sarasota, Florida, on Monday to ensure that the media couldn't ignore the information being shared with the American people that day.

"Since January, the Department of Homeland Security has arrested over 480,000 criminal illegal aliens -- 70 percent of those individuals have criminal charges against them or have been convicted of those criminal charges," Noem told reporters, according to Breitbart.

She noted that, contrary to some erroneous claims being circulated by leftist activists and the media, the efforts of DHS and ICE continue to be "focused on the worst of the worst, bringing these individuals to justice."

"We are not going to let these individuals terrorize our streets anymore and we’re not going to let them make victims out of families that live in this country," the secretary added before providing some of the details about the egregious criminal records of the highlighted arrestees.

On pace to arrest more than 2.5 million illegal aliens

Secretary Noem also shared a brief portion of the press conference in an X post, in which she wrote, "Today marks nine months since @POTUS Trump has been in office. What our law enforcement has accomplished for the American people, under President Trump, is nothing short of extraordinary."

"Over 480,000 criminal illegal aliens have been arrested -- 70% of those individuals have been convicted or have pending charges," she added. "We will continue to fulfill @POTUS Trump's promise to Make America Safe Again, secure our borders, and protect our people."

If the Trump administration is able to maintain its current pace, which is roughly 53,000 arrests of criminal illegal aliens every month, then they are on track to arrest and potentially deport more than 2.5 million unauthorized migrants over the course of Trump's second term in office.