Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) | US House of Representatives
Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) | US House of Representatives
Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) is warning that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with criminal convictions, including sex offenses and homicides, have been allowed to enter the U.S., according to correspondence Gonzalez received from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirming the numbers.
“Americans deserve to be safe in our own communities,” Gonzalez said in a post on X showing a copy of the letter from ICE with details on the hundreds of thousands of known illegal immigrants in the country that either have criminal convictions or face pending criminal charges.
Gonzalez added, "As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket—13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!”
In a statement that accompanied the data provided to Gonzalez, ICE directed some of the blame to “sanctuary cities” which refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement to deport illegal alien criminals.
"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. However, ‘sanctuary’ policies can end up shielding dangerous criminals, who often victimize those same communities,” according to the statement.
The statement also defended DHS’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants, noting that, "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.”
Republicans maintain that Biden-Harris Administration policies have resulted in the current border crisis, including removing Trump-era policies that limited the practice of “catch and release” for illegal immigrants with known criminal histories.
The ICE data was released in response to a March 13, 2024 letter from Gonzalez to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting the number of noncitizens on ICE’s docket either convicted or charged with a crime.
The DHS data is broken down by those in detention and those who are not—also referred to as the non-detained docket.
The latter category consists of illegal immigrants who are going through removal proceedings or have received removal orders but are not detained in ICE custody.
According to DHS there are roughly 7.4 million people on that docket. That number has expanded rapidly from 3.7 million in FY 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in FY 2022.
Of those with either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges are 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 convicted of drug charges, 2,521 convicted of kidnapping, 15,881 sexual assault convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide.
Additionally, DHS reports that there are individuals facing pending charges including 1,845 accused of homicide, 49.915 facing assault charges and 3,266 with pending burglary charges.
| Pending Criminal Charges |
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