By C. Douglas Golden September 28, 2024 at 9:02am
Just as Vice President Kamala Harris has gotten the media to play along regarding issues caused by nominally legal immigrants flooding into unprepared cities and overwhelming local services, she faces a new worry: trying to cover up unfortunate statistics regarding illegal immigrants, as well.
According to Fox News, Immigration and Customs Enforcement have provided data to congressional lawmakers about illegal immigrants who have criminal records, either in the form of charges or convictions. And — here’s a shocker — the numbers don’t look good.
The data sets were initially provided to GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas and were current as of July 2024.
The numbers? Of those who are currently not in detention — repeat, not detained — there are 425,431 who have been convicted of a crime already and 222,141 who have pending charges.
These individuals are currently going through removal proceedings or have been issued final orders of removal but don’t happen to be in law enforcement custody. And we’re not exactly talking shoplifting a pack of gum here, either.
“Those include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 with drug convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions,” Fox News reported Friday.
“There are an additional 1,845 with pending homicide charges, 42,915 with assault charges, 3,266 with burglary charges and 4,250 with assault charges.”
Overall, the non-detained docket includes more than 7 million people, including those released on parole who haven’t been charged or convicted of a crime.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin had this to say about the numbers: “It’s a jaw-dropper to say the least.”
Should officials who allowed violent criminal illegal immigrants into the country face prosecution?
“It’s a jaw dropper to say the least” — Fox’s @BillMelugin_ on new ICE data showing huge number of border migrants with convictions pic.twitter.com/mxe2ZG2p4t
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) September 27, 2024
Gonzales was even less restrained.
“As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket—13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!” Gonzales said in a statement.
“Americans deserve to be SAFE in our own communities.”
It’s worse than we all thought! https://t.co/Z4BoPd6v73
— Tony Gonzales (@TonyGonzales4TX) September 27, 2024
Don’t blame them, ICE said. Blame so-called “sanctuary cities,” where authorities refuse to cooperate with the federal agencies to deport dangerous illegal aliens.
“ICE recognizes that some jurisdictions are concerned that cooperating with federal immigration officials will erode trust with immigrant communities and make it harder for local law enforcement to serve those populations,” ICE said in a statement.
“However, ‘sanctuary’ policies can end up shielding dangerous criminals, who often victimize those same communities,” it added.
Furthermore, ICE tried to CYA by insisting the Department of Homeland Security was stepping up deportation efforts.
“From mid-May 2023 through the end of July 2024, DHS removed or returned more than 893,600 individuals, including more than 138,300 individuals in family units. The majority of all individuals encountered at the Southwest Border over the past three years have been removed, returned, or expelled,” it said.
And, look! Kamala Harris visited the border, finally! See? Everything’s working out as it should:
BREAKING: This is what a President visiting the border looks like. pic.twitter.com/c7CakWw5LL
— Kamala’s Wins (@harris_wins) September 28, 2024
Gonzales isn’t buying it, as he shouldn’t.
“We’ve known for far too long that the Biden-Harris border crisis poses a direct threat to Americans. The truth is clear—illegal immigrants with a criminal record are coming into our country. The data released by ICE is beyond disturbing, and it should be a wake-up call for the Biden-Harris administration and cities across the country that hide behind sanctuary policies,” he said, according to KABB-TV in San Antonio.
“It’s time for Washington to move past rhetoric and toward results. Americans deserve to feel safe in their communities. As an Appropriator, I will do everything in my power to ensure ICE has the resources necessary to deport noncitizens with a criminal record—this must be a priority. The Biden-Harris administration also plays a part in cleaning up the mess their failed policies have created. They have the ear of sanctuary city mayors—it’s time to encourage them to reverse course and put the safety of American citizens first.”
Meanwhile, he mocked her visit to the border in an appearance on Fox News:
Texas Rep. @TonyGonzales4TX: “It took her this long to go to Arizona… Why don’t you just walk across the street and speak to your own ICE director?… We have literally hundreds of thousands of criminally convicted folks that are in our country illegally. Let’s go after them.” pic.twitter.com/w8jAOx33UB
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 27, 2024
“It took her this long to go to Arizona” to visit the border, Gonzales pointed out.
“Why don’t you just walk across the street and speak to your own ICE director? Why don’t you speak to your own DHS secretary? Why don’t you fix the problem by saying, ‘Look, here’s the deal: We have literally hundreds of thousands of criminally convicted folks that are in our country illegally. Let’s go after them’?”
Because that’s action — not a photo op, and not claims that if you’re concerned about Haitian TPS migrants overwhelming Springfield, Ohio, you’re a racist, and not assertions that unchecked illegal immigration poses a threat to America, you’re a xenophobe. The Biden-Harris administration is very good at everything after the hyphen. Before it, not so much.
But don’t just ask me. The numbers speak for themselves, and they don’t — and can’t — lie about the scope of the problem, either.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture
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