In a surprising revelation, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Patrick Lechleitner announced on Friday that over 13,000 noncitizens with murder convictions are currently living in the United States after entering under the Biden-Harris administration. The information was disclosed in a letter sent to Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), and no doubt former President Donald Trump will seize on it to prove to the electorate his claims about rising migrant crime are correct.
The letter reveals that as of July 2024, ICE’s national docket includes 662,566 noncitizens with criminal records. Alarmingly, 13,099 of these individuals have been convicted of homicide. Even more concerning is that these individuals are not in federal custody; they are part of ICE’s “non-detained docket,” meaning they are living freely within the U.S. while their immigration cases, which could take years to resolve, remain pending.
“We are removing and returning record numbers of migrants who are unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States, and prioritizing for removal those who present national security and public safety risks, and recent border crossers,” Lechleitner wrote. “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.”
The figures are striking: out of 662,566 noncitizens with criminal backgrounds, 435,719 are convicted criminals, while an additional 226,847 face pending criminal charges. The scope extends beyond murder convictions. The Acting ICE Director’s letter also discloses that more than 15,800 noncitizens convicted of sexual assault are on the non-detained docket. Moreover, nearly 1,900 individuals with pending homicide charges and over 4,250 with pending sexual assault charges are currently at large in the U.S.
Trump, during a campaign stop in Michigan on Friday, referenced the letter from Lechleitner. “I’ve been saying this from the beginning of the Harris-Biden disaster. It’s no longer an administration. Because what they’ve done to our country with this is inexcusable. I guess some egghead maybe said ‘Oh, it’s wonderful to release people.’ And it sounds so nice… But these are killers… They cut your throat and they won’t even think about it the next morning… And these people are all over the place and they’re killing people… Nobody who’s allowed to do this, and nobody who’s allowed this to happen to our country is fit to be the President of the United States. I mean that too. I mean it.”
The latest disclosure intensifies the ongoing debate over the current administration’s immigration policies. Republican lawmakers have consistently criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their mismanagement of the southern border, alleging that their approach prioritizes political motivations over national security.
ICE’s limited capacity is exacerbating the issue. The agency’s detention centers can house 41,500 individuals, a modest increase from the previous fiscal year, but still insufficient given the high influx of entrants. Additionally, state and local law enforcement agencies have declined to cooperate with ICE detainer requests, complicating efforts to detain and deport dangerous individuals.
“We just got these numbers moments ago, but it’s a jaw-dropper, to say the least,” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin, who has been covering the illegal alien ‘invasion’ for years, explained ahead of a Harris trip to Douglas, Ariz. “According to a letter that the acting director of ICE just sent to Texas Congressman Tony Gonzalez, on ICE’s non-detained docket, they’re currently tracking 425,000 non-citizens who have been convicted of a crime. Of that number, over 13,000 non-citizens have convictions for homicide and are on the non-detained docket, meaning they’re roaming the country right now.”
“On top of that, there are another 15,811 non-citizens convicted of sexual assault who are roaming the country right now on ICE’s non-detained docket,” Melugin continued. “It doesn’t stop there. Those are convictions. The ICE director also says there are currently just under 1,900 non-citizens on the non-detained docket who have pending homicide charges who are roaming the country and another 4,250 non-citizens who have pending sexual assault charges who are roaming the country on the non-detained docket.”
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