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Newly released numbers on convicted immigrants are being used to attack Democrats over border policy under Presidents Biden and Kamala Harris.
Donald Trump has used this figure to claim that “13,000 convicted murderers entered our country during his three and a half years as border czar,” claiming that they “destroyed our country.” He said he was allowed to “wander openly.”
However, both claims are misleading.
New numbers released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show that about 13,000 noncitizens convicted of murder were on the agency’s records and not in custody.
But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said the numbers span many years and include immigrants who entered the U.S. under President Trump and previous administrations.
He also said that while people on the list may not be in ICE custody, they could be detained or jailed under the supervision of other agencies.
What do the numbers say?
The numbers were made public in a letter to Republican Rep. Tony Gonzalez at the request of ICE.
As of July 2024, there were 425,431 noncitizens with criminal convictions on ICE’s “Non-Detention List” (a database of people facing deportation proceedings but not in ICE custody). It shows that there are people.
Among them:
13,099 people were convicted of murder, 15,811 people were convicted of sexual assault, and 62,231 people were convicted of assault.
However, DHS said in a statement that the data was “misinterpreted.”
“That includes many people who are under the jurisdiction of our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners or who are currently incarcerated,” DHS said.
So just because they’re not in ICE custody doesn’t mean they’re all “roaming around free” as President Trump claims.
“For example, Zacharias Moussaoui, who is incarcerated in a maximum-security prison in Colorado for his involvement in the 9/11 attacks, is likely to be included on that list because he is not currently in ICE custody,” said Immigration Enforcement Specialist. says Aaron Reichlin Melnick. At the American Immigration Council.
BBC Verify asked DHS how many people are being detained by other agencies.
How many of them were under Biden and Harris?
President Trump has said that 13,000 people convicted of murder have entered the United States under the Biden-Harris administration, but ICE statistics do not show when these people came to the United States. Not listed.
“The data goes back decades and includes individuals who entered the country over the past 40 years, the majority of whom had custody decisions made long before this (Biden-Harris) administration,” DHS said. ” he said.
Exact numbers for each administration are not known because non-binding documents are not released on a regular basis, but only on request under certain circumstances.
The numbers were previously released in June 2021, five months after President Biden took office, and showed that the list of convicted criminals at that time included 405,431 people. are.
An official report released in August 2016, at the end of President Barack Obama’s term, put the number at 368,574.
That means the list has grown by nearly 37,000 people over the five years that include President Trump’s term.
“This data shows that a significant number would have been on the list during the previous administration, and has remained on the list under multiple administrations, including the Trump administration,” said Michelle Mittelstadt of the Migration Policy Institute. The list is growing.”
The total number of noncitizens on the list has increased in recent years due to the large influx of immigrants under President Biden.
“While the number of people on noncustodial records has increased significantly under the Biden administration, the number of convicted criminals on the list has not increased,” Reichlin-Melnick said.
In the letter, ICE did not say how many of the convicted noncitizens on the list were illegal immigrants and how many entered the U.S. on green cards or other forms.
BBC Verify asked for a breakdown.
Why is it so difficult to remove some criminals from the United States?
Part of the reason for the high overall number is problems in deporting certain non-citizens who have committed crimes, experts say.
“The U.S. government cannot put people on a commercial or government flight to return to their country of citizenship without that country’s consent,” says Michelle Mittelstadt.
“For example, the United States has very limited diplomatic relations with Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, so deportation flights rarely return to these countries.”
A federal law is in place that allows people to be detained for only six months before the U.S. government proves they are a danger to the community.
The United Nations Convention against Torture allows some immigrants to have deportation postponed, even if they have been convicted of a serious crime, if a judge determines there is a high risk of torture or persecution in their home country. It means that you can.
DHS announced that it has deported more than 180,000 convicted noncitizens since January 2021.
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