Republicans are pointing to newly released immigration
enforcement data to bolster their argument that the Biden administration is
letting migrants who have committed serious crimes go free in the U.S. But the
numbers have been misconstrued without key context.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement released data to
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales in response to a request he made for information
about people under ICE supervision either convicted of crimes or facing
criminal charges. Gonzales’ Texas district includes an 800-mile stretch
bordering Mexico.
Gonzales posted the numbers online and they
immediately became a flashpoint in the presidential campaign between former
President Donald Trump, who has vowed to carry out mass deportations, and Vice
President Kamala Harris. Immigration — and the Biden administration’s record on
border security — has become a key issue in the election.
What are the numbers?
As of July 21, ICE said 662,556 people under its supervision
were either convicted of crimes or face criminal charges. Nearly 15,000 were in
its custody, but the vast majority — 647,572 — were not.
Included in the figures of people not detained by ICE
were people found guilty of very serious crimes: 13,099 for homicide, 15,811
for sexual assault, 13,423 for weapons offenses and 2,663 for stolen vehicles.
The single biggest category was for traffic-related offenses at 77,074,
followed by assault at 62,231 and dangerous drugs at 56,533.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees
ICE, later clarified that the numbers span decades — including the Trump
administration and other presidencies — and that those not in its custody may
be detained by a state or local agency. It’s a distinction ICE didn’t make in
its report to Gonzales.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala
Harris talks with John Modlin, the chief patrol agent for the Tucson Sector of
the U.S. Border Patrol, right, and Blaine Bennett, the U.S. Border Patrol
Douglas Station border patrol agent in charge, as she visits the U.S. border
with Mexico in Douglas, Ariz., Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn
Kaster)
“When we speak of somebody who is not detained, we
mean not detained in ICE custody. The individual could be in Folsom State
Prison, for example,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said
Monday.
Millions of people are on ICE’s “non-detained docket,”
or people under the agency’s supervision who aren’t in its custody. Many are
awaiting outcomes of their cases in immigration court, including some wearing
monitoring devices. Others have been released after completing their prison
sentences because their countries won’t take them back.
What do both sides say about the numbers?
Republicans pointed to the data as proof that the
Biden administration is letting immigrants with criminal records into the
country and isn’t doing enough to kick out those who commit crimes while
they’re here.
“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,” Gonzales
said in a news release, referring to pledges by local officials to limit their
cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Trump, who has repeatedly portrayed immigrants as
bringing lawlessness and crime to America, tweeted multiple screenshots of the
data with the words: “13,000 CROSSED THE BORDER WITH MURDER CONVICTIONS.”
He also asserted that the numbers correspond to Biden
and Harris’ time in office.
The data was being misinterpreted, Homeland Security
said in a statement Sunday.
“The data goes back decades; it includes individuals
who entered the country over the past 40 years or more, the vast majority of
whose custody determination was made long before this Administration,” the
agency said. “It also includes many who are under the jurisdiction or currently
incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement partners.”
Mayorkas said it was “unfortunate” the information
didn’t come with proper explanation, saying that “lends itself to
misinterpretation, either deliberate or otherwise.”
The department also stressed what it has done to
deport those without the right to stay in America, saying it had removed or
returned more than 700,000 people in the past year, which it said was the
highest number since 2010. Homeland Security said it had removed 180,000 people
with criminal convictions since President Joe Biden took office.
What’s behind the figures?
The data isn’t only listing people who entered the
country during the Biden administration but includes people going back decades
who came during previous administrations, said Doris Meissner, former
commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was the
predecessor to ICE.
They’re accused or convicted of committing crimes in
America as opposed to committing crimes in other countries and then entering
the U.S., said Meissner, who is now director of the U.S. Immigration Policy
Program at the Migration Policy Institute.
“This is not something that is a function of what the
Biden administration did,” she said. “Certainly, this includes the Biden years,
but this is an accumulation of many years, and certainly going back to at least
2010, 2011, 2012.”
A 2017 report by Homeland Security’s Office of
Inspector General says that as of August 2016, ICE had about 368,574 people on
its non-detained docket who were convicted criminals. By June 2021, shortly
after Trump left office, that number was up to 405,786.
Can’t ICE just deport criminals?
ICE has limited resources. The number of people it
supervises has skyrocketed, while its staffing has not. As the agency noted in
a 2023 end-of-year report, it often has to send staff to help at the border,
taking them away from their normal duties.
The number of people ICE supervises but who aren’t in
its custody has grown from 3.3 million a little before Biden took office to a
little over 7 million last spring.
“The simple answer is that as a system, we haven’t
devoted enough resources to the parts of the government that deal with
monitoring and ultimately removing people who are deportable,” Meissner said.
ICE also has logistical and legal limits on who they
can hold. Its budget allows the agency to hold 41,500 people at a time. John
Sandweg, who was acting ICE director from 2013 to 2014 under then-President
Barack Obama, said holding people accused or convicted of the most serious crimes
is always the top priority.
But once someone has a final order of removal —
meaning a court has found that they don’t have the right to stay in the country
— they cannot be held in detention forever while ICE works out how to get them
home. A 2001 Supreme Court ruling essentially prevented ICE from holding those
people for more than six months if there is no reasonable chance to expect they
can be sent back.
Not every country is willing to take back their
citizens, Sandweg said.
He said he suspects that a large number of those
convicted of homicide but not held by ICE are people who were ordered deported
but the agency can’t remove them because their home country won’t take them
back.
“It’s a very common scenario. Even amongst the
countries that take people back, they can be very selective about who they take
back,” he said.
The U.S. also could run into problems deporting people
to countries with which it has tepid relations.
Homeland Security did not respond to questions about
how many countries won’t take back their citizens. The 2017 watchdog report put
the number at 23 countries, plus an additional 62 that were cooperative but
where there were delays getting things like passports or travel documents.