A special Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent interrogates a man heading to Mexico after his car is stopped at a border crossing in Hidalgo state and his vehicle is searched.
Getty Images
More than 13,000 immigrants convicted of murder inside or outside the United States have left Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and are living freely in the United States, according to data provided by ICE to Congress earlier this week. It is said that there is
Immigrants are part of ICE’s “non-custodial” record. That is, the agency has some information about the immigrant and they have a pending immigration case in the U.S., but they are not prioritized for detention or ICE is not currently detaining them. . can’t find them.
Acting ICE Director P.J. Rechleitner sent the data collected as of July 21 as part of a request sent in March by Texas Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez.
It’s unclear when the first of the 13,000 immigrants entered the U.S., two law enforcement officials familiar with the data told NBC News, citing ICE’s non-custodial records, including for felons. Many of the immigrants listed entered the United States under previous administrations, including: Former President Donald Trump’s.
During a campaign stop in Michigan on Friday, Trump used the data to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris over current immigration policies.
“We can finally look at them and say ‘I told you so’ against fake news,” Trump said. “They are tough, tough, violent criminals who roam freely in our country.”
The White House has not yet commented on the data. One official told NBC News that the release of the data came as a surprise to the White House.
Two law enforcement officials said the 13,099 immigrants who live in the U.S. and have been convicted of murder may have never had contact with ICE. Some may have been released across the border because Border Patrol lacks information about their criminal histories. In many cases, you will not be notified of a criminal conviction until you enter the United States.
Also, as is the case with many sanctuary city policies, immigrants convicted of crimes may be released by state or local authorities after serving their sentences without notifying ICE. ICE must identify convicts in order to detain and deport them after their release.
Two law enforcement officials said ICE prioritizes arresting immigrants convicted of serious crimes, such as murder.
However, authorities have limited resources and are limited in the number of people they can find and arrest. Currently, there are more than 7.5 million immigrants on ICE’s “non-custodial” record, meaning they have pending immigration cases but are not currently in custody.
Rechleitner told NBC News that more local governments are starting to work together and rethink sanctuary policies in light of increased attention to immigrant crime.
Earlier this year, NBC News joined ICE agents in Maryland who arrested a man convicted of murder in Colombia and a man convicted of attempted murder in El Salvador.
Investigators explained that searching for convicted criminals living outdoors requires a tremendous amount of effort from discovery to arrest.