Crime and illegal aliens in the U.S.

2015 research on illegal alien crime

Illegal alien crime significantly threatens the welfare and safety of Americans.

Sadly for Americans, the Obama administration has ordered criminal illegal aliens to be released by ICE. An extensive report revealing convictions of criminal aliens released and placed in non-custodial settings in 2015 was submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives. See: Criminal convictions of illegal aliens released by ICE in 2015.

Excerpts from the article Illegal Alien Violence and Crime by the Numbers - We’re All Victims, The Conservative Papers, July 15, 2015, reveal the following startling facts:

• The New York Times reports that about 4.5 million illegal aliens in the U.S. drive on a regular basis, many without licenses or insurance, or even the ability to read road signs written in English.
• the Office of Immigration Statistics reported that of the 188,382 deportations of illegal aliens in 2011, 23 percent had committed criminal traffic offenses (primarily driving under the influence). Congressman Steve King (R-IA) estimates that illegal alien drunk drivers kill 13 Americans every day — that’s a death toll of 4,745 per year.
• According to the Center for Immigration Studies, another 23 percent, more than 43,000 illegal aliens, were convicted of drug offenses. The violent crime category of assault, robbery, sexual assault, and family offenses comes to 12 percent. 
• Pinal County is roughly 70 miles north of the border. In 2010, the U.S. Border Patrol reported 212,202 illegal aliens were caught in the Tucson sector alone. The Border Patrol admits for everyone captured, another 2.7 make it into the United States undetected. Of the individuals who are apprehended, as many as 30% of them already have a criminal record in the United States. 
• The liberal Huffington Post writer Chris Kirkham recently noted that, “this year, more than 60 percent of all federal criminal convictions have been for immigration-related crimes, federal data show.”... 
• illegal reentry under Title 8, Section 1326 of the United States Code was the most commonly recorded lead charge brought by federal prosecutors during the first half of FY 2011. It alone accounted for 47 percent of all criminal immigration prosecutions filed. The average prison sentence was 14 months for those convicted
• arrests by the U.S. Border Patrol of individuals from countries other than Mexico have increased from 59,000 in FY 2010 to 99,000 in FY 2012.
• In a 2007 Government Accountability Office study of 55,322 illegal aliens, analysts discovered that they were arrested at least a total of 459,614 times, averaging about eight arrests per illegal alien: 70 percent had between two and 10 arrests, and 26 percent (about 15,000) had 11 or more arrests.
• An FBI crime study shows that 75 percent of those on the most wanted criminals list in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Albuquerque are illegal aliens.
• One quarter of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals, as are more than 40 percent of all inmates in Arizona and 48 percent in New Mexico jails.
• Over 53 percent of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens.
• 63 percent of cited drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that number, 97 percent are illegal aliens. 66 percent of cited drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66 percent, 98 percent are illegal aliens.
• there are at least 70,000 MS-13 gang members operating between Central America and the United States.

• In fiscal year 2002, 33.6% of criminals sentenced in federal district courts under Federal Sentencing Guidelines were non-citizens, and 55% of these non-citizens were illegal aliens. This means that illegal aliens accounted for 17.5% of all crimes prosecuted in federal courts, whereas they are less than 6% of the adult population.
• There are 400,000 illegal aliens being sought by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as "Absconders," and 100,000 of them are criminals. They have been ordered deported but cannot be located.
• From 1980 to 1999, the number of illegal aliens in federal and state prisons grew from 9,000 to 68,000. Today, criminal aliens account for about 30% of the inmates in federal prisons and 15-25% in many local jails. Incarceration costs to the taxpayers were estimated by the Justice Department in 2002 to be $891 million for federal prison inmates and $624 million for inmates in state prisons.
• In 2004, the federal government reimbursed states and counties almost $300 million for over 200,000 illegal aliens in custody in jails and prisons. This number does not include illegal aliens in jail in jurisdictions that did not request reimbursement (such as Illinois and Wisconsin), nor does it include thousands sentenced to probation instead of jail time.
• From 1995 to 1999, the INS released over 35,000 criminal aliens instead of deporting them. Over 11,000 of them later committed serious crimes. The data for 2000-2004 has not been released.
• In 2003, the ICE Detention and Removal Office in Los Angeles had the manpower to process only 10-12% of the estimated 40,000 illegal aliens who passed through the county jail (24% of the total of 170,000). Over 35,000 were released back into the community.
• Over 23,000 individuals with criminal histories were apprehended by the Border Patrol in 2004 trying to enter the U.S. illegally. No one knows how many crossed our open borders successfully.
• The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office says there are over 300 murder warrants outstanding in L.A. County for illegal aliens who have fled to Mexico. They estimate there are 800 to 1,000 such warrants statewide in California and possibly 3,000 nationwide.
• Frequently, an illegal alien arrested for a crime can accept "voluntary removal" instead of going to trial for his crime. He is sent home but not counted as being deported. Thus, he has no criminal record if he re-enters the country. Local prosecutors make this deal to save money, but because of our open borders such criminals often return and commit additional crimes. No one has yet calculated the cost of this practice.
• Although all illegal aliens are subject to deportation by law, only the most serious criminals are detained and deported from local jails because of inadequate ICE manpower. Over 200,000 illegal aliens who were incarcerated for minor crimes in 2004 were released back into the community instead of being deported.
• In 2004, over 50,000 apprehended "Other-than-Mexican" illegal aliens were released by the Border Patrol due to a lack of detention space. Most of them did not show up for their immigration court hearing.
• The Border Patrol does not routinely arrest "coyotes" who smuggle illegal aliens into the country. They are merely sent back across the border with their "clients." They are arrested and prosecuted for human trafficking only after the coyote's file has numerous apprehensions and five documented re-entries after deportation.
• Illegal aliens are often released because of lack of detention space, yet the federal agency responsible for detention facilities, ICE/DRO, has never requested the funds to build adequate detention facilities.

  Prepared as a Public Service by The National Center for Citizenship and Immigration
  Rep. Tom Tancredo, Founder and Honorary Chairman - A Non-profit Organization, Littleton, CO.

Further research on illegal alien crime

Search for CAIRCO articles on illegal alien crime.

Ignoring Detainers, Endangering Communities: State/local agencies release criminals rather than obey law, Center for Immigration Studies, July 13, 2015.

State and local sanctuary policies caused the release of more than 8,000 criminal alien offenders sought by ICE for deportation in 276 jurisdictions around the country over an eight-month period, according to ICE records obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies in a FOIA request. Sixty-three percent of the individuals freed by local authorities had prior criminal histories or were labeled a public safety concern at the time of their release. Nearly 1,900 of the released offenders subsequently were arrested for another crime within that eight-month period. ICE arrested approximately 750 of the recidivists, but just over 1,000 (60 percent) remained at large.

276 Jurisdictions Had Sanctuary Policies.

From January 1, 2014, to August 31, 2014, local law enforcement agencies refused to comply with a total of 8,811 detainers, resulting in aliens being released from custody.

As of June 2015 more than 17,000 detainers had been refused by local sanctuary jurisdictions. Most Offenders Released Had Priors; One-Fourth Were Already Felons. The majority (63 percent) of the individuals freed by local agencies had serious prior criminal records. 1,900 Released Offenders Were Later Arrested 4,300 Times; Most Are Apparently Still at Large, even after Re-Offending. Of the 8,145 individual aliens freed by local agencies, there were 1,867 (23 percent) who were subsequently arrested again for a criminal offense.