A recent letter from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner to Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) has revealed that ICE is aware of over 600,000 non-detained noncitizens with criminal histories in the United States. This number includes more than 400,000 convicted criminals and another 200,000 with pending charges.
The data, which was requested by Gonzalez six months ago, shows that 13,000 of the convicted criminals have been found guilty of murder, 15,000 of sexual assault, and over 50,000 of drug convictions. While some Republicans have claimed that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are responsible for releasing these individuals into the country, the data actually reveals that the convictions are for crimes committed after the individuals arrived in the US.
The numbers also include migrants who are known to ICE but are not in custody, either because they are being held by local law enforcement or because they are free to roam the country. This is the case with Jose Ibarra, who was allegedly involved in the murder and sexual assault of Laken Riley. Ibarra was known to ICE but was not in custody, highlighting the agency’s limited capacity to track and deport non-detained migrants.
The number of non-detained noncitizens tracked by ICE has skyrocketed under the Biden-Harris administration, from 3 million in 2020 to almost 8 million today. This increase is largely due to the administration’s policies, including the parole of migrants from countries such as Haiti and Venezuela.
Despite the growing number of non-detained migrants, the Biden-Harris administration has not taken steps to deport those who have committed crimes. In fact, the administration has a policy of not attempting to deport migrants unless they have committed a serious crime, which does not include offenses such as theft, endangering a minor, or drunken driving.
This approach has allowed many jurisdictions to continue their sanctuary city policies, which refuse to cooperate with ICE. The administration’s failure to enforce immigration laws has created a situation in which many criminal migrants are able to roam free, posing a risk to public safety.
In contrast, former President Donald Trump has promised to take a tougher approach to immigration enforcement, including forcing Democratic-controlled cities and states to end their sanctuary policies. Trump has also vowed to deport criminal migrants, using leverage such as tariffs and visa restrictions to ensure that countries take back their citizens.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been tasked with overseeing the administration’s immigration policy, has claimed to take the issue seriously. However, the data released by ICE suggests that she is not taking adequate steps to address the problem of non-detained migrants with criminal histories.
