Data Caveats

* Government statistics on the crime rates of immigrants are often unclear because:

these statistics typically lump all non-citizens into a single group, even though there are different categories of non-citizens with different capacities for criminality, such as those who enter the United States: illegally and have not been subject to any criminal screenings or background checks. by using temporary visas, which requires passing a screening for various risks to the safety of others. legally and are permanent residents, which requires passing a federal criminal background check.

certain state and local governments have enacted sanctuary policies that prohibit law enforcement from examining or recording the immigration status of arrestees.

federal, state, and local governments differ in how they define and record the immigration status of people who pass through the criminal justice system.

illegal immigrant crime victims may not report crimes committed against them due to fear of deportation.

millions of immigrants use fraudulent Social Security numbers, fake birth certificates, or other forms of identity fraud to mask their immigration status.

crime statistics are sometimes based on surveys that are dependent upon respondent honesty, and certain groups of immigrants often misrepresent themselves as citizens in surveys.

the numbers and types of immigrants in the U.S., which comprise the denominators for determining crimes rates, are uncertain.

General

* Due to the limitations of government crime data, most of the facts below about non-citizens lump all of them into a single group, including:

legal permanent residents who have undergone criminal background checks.

illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. legally and were screened for various risks to the safety of others but have overstayed the terms of their visa.

illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. by illegally crossing the border or by using false identification and have not been subject to any screening.

* Based on U.S. Census data from 2014 to 2018, immigrants who remain in the U.S. and:

are U.S. citizens are 80% less likely than the general U.S. population to be incarcerated in adult correctional facilities.

are not U.S. citizens are 2% less likely than the general U.S. population to be incarcerated in adult correctional facilities.

are from Latin America are 5.0 times more likely to be incarcerated than immigrants from Europe and 6.1 times more likely than immigrants from Asia.

* Arrest and incarceration rates of non-citizens who enter the U.S. are higher than those who remain in the U.S. because:

in the decade from 2008 to 2017, the federal government deported 1,561,431 non-citizens who were convicted of committing crimes in the U.S. This is 11 times the number of non-citizens in U.S. adult correctional facilities at the end of this period (141,858).

convicts released from state prisons have an average of about 3.9 prior convictions in addition to those that led to their imprisonment.

after convicts are released from state prisons, roughly 82% of them are arrested within a decade for committing completely new crimes (not probation or parole violations), with an average of five arrests per released prisoner.

after convicts are released from state prisons, about half of them are imprisoned again within five years.

* Based on U.S. Census data from 2014 to 2018, the numbers and types of immigrants who remain in the U.S. and are incarcerated in adult correctional facilities varied as follows:

Immigrant Type Portion of … U.S. Population Prisoners All 13.5% 8.1% U.S. Citizen 6.6% 1.3% Non-Citizen 6.9% 6.8% Asian 4.2% 0.7% European 1.5% 0.3% Latin American 6.8% 6.7%

* Based on data from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Congressional Research Service determined in 2016 that:

Until recently, the proportion of noncitizens incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails corresponded closely to that of noncitizens in the U.S. population, but unreported incarceration data since 2013 has hindered such comparisons.

* Based on estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Homeland Security, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, during 2010, non-citizens who remained in the U.S. accounted for:

7.1% of the U.S. population.

6.9% of crime-related arrests. This figure does not include civil traffic offenses and arrests for living illegally in the U.S.

* In 2011, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a study of 249,000 non-citizens in U.S. prisons and jails during 2003–2009. The study:

found that these non-citizen inmates had been arrested for the following crimes committed within the U.S.: 213,047 assaults. 115,045 burglaries. 94,492 weapons violations. 69,929 sex offenses. 25,064 homicides.

did not count some crimes because it only covered “a portion of the total population of criminal aliens who may be incarcerated at the state and local levels” since there “are no reliable population data on criminal aliens incarcerated in all state prison systems and local jails.”

* In 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a study of non-citizens in U.S. prisons and jails during 2010–2016. The study:

found that these non-citizen inmates had been arrested/transferred for the following crimes committed within the U.S. during 1964–2017: 1,097,800 drug offenses. 505,400 assaults. 219,900 burglaries. 169,200 weapons violations. 133,800 sex offenses. 33,300 homicides. 24,200 kidnappings. 1,500 acts of terrorism.



double-counted some crimes because the “data did not allow” the study to “distinguish between a new arrest and a transfer from one agency to another.”

did not count some crimes because it only covered “a portion of the total population of criminal aliens incarcerated at the state and local level” since there “are no reliable population data on all criminal aliens in every U.S. state prison and local jail.”

* All of the arrest and incarceration figures above do not account for crimes that did not result in arrests. In the United States:

one person was arrested for every 2.7 aggravated assaults committed during 2018.

62% of murders led to a suspect being identified and acted upon by the criminal justice system during 2018.

murders committed by black and Hispanic people are less likely to be solved than murders committed by white people.

Removable Criminal Aliens

* “Removable criminal aliens” are non-citizens who have been convicted of crimes in the U.S. that warrant immediate deportation hearings. This term can apply to both legal and illegal immigrants, but it does not apply to immigrants who:

are living in the U.S. illegally but have not been convicted of a crime (unlawful presence in the U.S. is not a criminal offense unless the person was previously deported or fled the nation after a removal order was issued).

have only been convicted of minor offenses like public intoxication.

have become U.S. citizens.

* Based on data from 2007 to 2009, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated in 2010 that about:

“900,000 arrests of aliens for crimes occur every year.”

“550,000 criminal aliens convicted of crimes exit law enforcement custody every year.”

“1.94 million removable criminal aliens are in the United States today.”

* Federal law requires the U.S. Attorney General to begin removal proceedings “as expeditiously as possible” when an alien is convicted of a crime that “makes the alien deportable.” The Attorney General is under the authority of the president.

Media & Academia

* In 2016, Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president of the U.S., told CNN that Mexican immigrants “are more law-abiding than U.S. citizens, and that is a statistic.” PolitiFact, a group with a mission to “help you find the truth in politics,” reported that this statement is “mostly true.”

Misrepresenting Association as Causation

* In support of its “mostly true” ruling, PolitiFact wrote that “crime involvement among foreign-born residents is lower than that of U.S.-born citizens.” As evidence of this, PolitiFact cited a report from the American Immigration Council written by three Ph.D.’s and accurately paraphrased it as follows:

Between 1990 and 2013, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population increased from 7.9 percent to 13.1 percent, and the number of unauthorized immigrants went up from 3.5 million to 11.2 million. At the same time, violent crime rate (murder, rape and aggravated assault) decreased 48 percent and property crime rate fell 41 percent, the report said, citing FBI data.

* Per an academic textbook about analyzing data:

Association is not the same as causation. This issue is a persistent problem in empirical analysis in the social sciences. Often the investigator will plot two variables and use the tight relationship obtained to draw absolutely ridiculous or completely erroneous conclusions. Because we so often confuse association and causation, it is extremely easy to be convinced that a tight relationship between two variables means that one is causing the other. This is simply not true.

Cherry-Picking

* In their analyses, PolitiFact and the American Immigration Council did not mention that the foreign-born share of the U.S. population also increased during the 1970s and 1980s, and during this time, the homicide rate rose, fell, and rose again:

* Per an academic book about analyzing data:

One of the worst abuses of analytics is to cherry pick results. Cherry pickers tout analysis findings when the results serve the purpose at hand. But, they ignore the findings when the results conflict with the original plan.

Mixing Data

* As further support for its “mostly true” ruling, PolitiFact wrote that the same American Immigration Council report:

analyzed data from the Census’ 2010 American Community Survey and found that about 1.6 percent of all immigrant males (Census does not specify legal status) between 18 and 39 years old were incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born population.

* The Census does specify citizenship status, and all immigrants who have become U.S. citizens are, by definition, legally present in the United States. This Census data shows that non-citizen immigrants were 5.2 times more likely to be incarcerated in correctional facilities than citizen immigrants during 2011–2015.

Obscuring Data

* The documentation provided by the American Immigration Council to support its claim about the rate of immigrant incarceration consists of one footnote that states “2010 American Community Survey.” Just Facts repeatedly requested data to verify this claim from the American Immigration Council, and they did not provide it.

* Per an academic book about research integrity:

“An important goal in the social sciences is that results, and therefore the data, be reproducible.”

“When data are not available, researchers must either trust past published results, or they must recreate the data as best they can based on descriptions in the published works, which often turn out to be too cryptic.”

“Descriptions are no substitute for the data itself.”

* Per an academic work about data analysis and the “importance of transparency”:

The techniques of analysis should be sufficiently transparent that other researchers familiar with the area can recognize how the data are being collected and tested, and can replicate the outcomes of the analysis procedure.

Bait & Switch

* As evidence that Mexican immigrants are “less likely to commit crimes than the native-born,” PolitiFact cited the same American Immigration Council report and wrote that:

2010 Census data that shows incarceration rates of young, less educated Mexican, Salvadoran and Guatemalan men—which comprise the bulk of the unauthorized population—are “significantly lower” than incarceration rates of native-born young men without a high-school diploma.

* If the claim above is accurate, it would not show that Mexican immigrants are “less likely to commit crimes than the native-born.” It would show that young, male Mexican immigrants with low education who remain in the U.S. are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born young men without a high-school diploma. With regard to:

education: In 2012, 54% of Mexican and Central American immigrants aged 25–64 did not have a high school diploma or equivalent, as compared to 7% of people born in the U.S. in the same age group. In 2009, 65% of male prison inmates did not have a high school diploma, as compared to 19% of adults in the general population.

remaining in the U.S.: In the decade from 2006 to 2015, the federal government deported 1,504,934 non-citizens who were convicted of committing crimes in the U.S. This was 10 times the number of non-citizens in U.S. adult correctional facilities at the end of this period (151,324). After convicts are released from state prisons, roughly 82% of them are arrested within a decade for committing completely new crimes (not probation or parole violations), with an average of five arrests per released prisoner.

age: In 2016, people aged 17–34 comprised 24% of the U.S. population and committed about 67% of the murders. In 2016, non-citizens comprised about 7.2% of the U.S. population and about 10.2% of the population aged 17–34.



Bait & Switch 2

* As further evidence that Mexican immigrants are “less likely to commit crimes than the native-born,” PolitiFact wrote:

Bianca E. Bersani, an assistant professor and director of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston, says her research also shows that crime involvement among foreign-born residents is lower than that of U.S.-born citizens.

It holds true for Mexican immigrants, she said.

“When ethnicity can be distinguished and Mexican immigrants isolated from the group of first-generation immigrants, research continues to find that Mexican immigrants have lower rates of involvement in crime compared to their U.S-born peers,” Bersani said.

* The statement above is based on a paper authored by Bersani that was published by the journal Justice Quarterly in 2014. This study is based on the self-reported criminal activities of a group of youth born in 1980 to 1984.

* Bersani’s paper does not compare the nationally representative crime rates of foreign-born residents to U.S.-born citizens. It compares the crime rates of foreign-born residents to U.S.-born citizens using “an over-sample of Hispanic and African-American youth.” With regard to such samples:

In cases where law enforcement identified the race or ethnicity of murder perpetrators in 2014, black people were 7.2 more times likely to commit murder than white people, and Hispanics were 2.6 times more likely to commit murder than whites.

Surveys of crime victims conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice from 2012 to 2014 show that black people are about 2.4 more times likely to commit non-homicidal violent crimes than white people, and Hispanics are 5% less likely to commit such crimes than whites.

Statistical Strategies

* Bersani’s paper does not provide a straightforward accounting of crimes committed by Mexican immigrants. Instead, it uses an “analytic strategy” called “group-based trajectory modeling” to identify “clusters of individuals who display similar behavioral trajectories over a period of time.” Using this strategy, Bersani found that:

“violent crime is virtually non-existent among first generation immigrants.”

“drug crime” is “virtually non-existent among first generation immigrants….”

* In 2011, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a study of 249,000 non-citizens in U.S. prisons and jails during 2003–2009. The study covered “a portion of the total population of criminal aliens who may be incarcerated at the state and local levels” and found that they had been arrested for the following violent and drug crimes committed within the U.S.:

25,064 homicides.

69,929 sex offenses.

94,492 weapons violations.

213,047 assaults.

504,043 drug crimes.

* In 2018, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a study of non-citizens in U.S. prisons and jails during 2010–2016. The study covered “a portion of the total population of criminal aliens incarcerated at the state and local level” and found that they had been arrested/transferred for the following violent and drug crimes committed in the U.S. during 1964–2017:

1,500 acts of terrorism

24,200 kidnappings.

33,300 homicides.

133,800 sex offenses.

505,400 assaults.

1,097,800 drug offenses.

* Using the same analytic strategy, Bersani found that:

in no case was Mexican immigrant ethnicity found to be a risk factor for trajectory group membership. Mexican, Central American, Caribbean, and Asian immigrants were no more likely to be in a high-rate offender group than the low rate or non-offender groups.

* Based on U.S. Census data from 2011 to 2015, Latin American immigrants who remain in the U.S. are 5.1 times more likely to be incarcerated than European immigrants and 6.3 times more likely than Asian immigrants:

Immigrant Type Portion of … U.S. Population Prisoners Asian 3.9% 0.7% European 1.5% 0.3% Latin American 6.8% 7.5%

* Per various academic publications that address the topic of statistical analytic strategies:

“Statistical analysis is very easy to misuse and misinterpret. Any method of analysis used, whenever applied to data, will provide a result, and all statistical results look authoritative.”

“Manipulation of data involves subjecting data to multiple statistical techniques until one achieves the desired outcome.”

“A general principle of data analysis recommends using the most appropriate, yet simplest, statistical techniques in research so findings can be better understood, interpreted, and communicated.”

Statistical “malpractice typically occurs when complex analytical techniques are combined with large data sets. … Indeed, as a general rule, the better the science, the less the need for complex analysis….”

Other Media Outlets

* Citing the same or similar studies as PolitiFact, various media outlets have reported that:

“immigrants are far more law-abiding than natives, regardless of race, class or education.”

– New York Times

– New York Times “immigrants—regardless of nationality or legal status—are less likely than the native population to commit violent crimes or to be incarcerated.”

– Wall Street Journal

– Wall Street Journal in 2010, “1.6 percent of immigrant males 18 to 39 years old were incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of native-born males. … The trend holds when comparing less educated Mexican, Salvadoran and Guatemalan men—who make up the bulk of the undocumented immigrant population—to their native-born counterparts….”

– Washington Post

Federal Politics

* The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to pass laws regarding citizenship with the approval of the president or by overriding a presidential veto. A veto override requires the votes of two-thirds of both houses of Congress.

* The U.S. Constitution gives the president the responsibility and power to ensure that federal laws are “faithfully executed” and to select people who will carry out this work.

* Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the agency that “enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety.” It is a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is under the authority of the President.

Party Platforms

* With regard to immigration and crime, the 2016 Democratic Party Platform states:

We believe immigration enforcement must be humane and consistent with our values. We should prioritize those who pose a threat to the safety of our communities, not hardworking families who are contributing to their communities.

* With regard to immigration and crime, the 2016 Republican Party Platform states:

In a time of terrorism, drug cartels, human trafficking, and criminal gangs, the presence of millions of unidentified individuals in this country poses grave risks to the safety and sovereignty of the United States. Our highest priority, therefore, must be to secure our borders and all ports of entry and to enforce our immigration laws.

The Department of Homeland Security must use its authority to keep dangerous aliens off our streets and to expedite expulsion of criminal aliens. Gang membership should be a deportable offense.

To ensure our national security, refugees who cannot be carefully vetted cannot be admitted to the country, especially those whose homelands have been the breeding grounds for terrorism.

Releasing Convicts

* Federal law requires the U.S. Attorney General to begin removal proceedings “as expeditiously as possible” when a non-citizen is convicted of a “deportable” offense. The Attorney General is under the authority of the President, and deportable offenses include but are not limited to:

a “crime for which a sentence of one year or longer may be imposed.”

“an aggravated felony.”

possessing a firearm.

drug crimes “other than a single offense involving possession for one’s own use of 30 grams or less of marijuana.”

domestic violence.

stalking.

identity fraud.

falsely claiming to be a citizen to get a job or receive welfare benefits.

voting in U.S. elections.

* In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5 to 4) in Zadvydas v. Davis that the government must release illegal immigrants who are ex-convicts into the U.S. population if their home countries refuse to take them back. In this case:

both of the justices appointed by Democrats and three justices appointed by Republicans ruled that the government must release them.

four justices appointed by Republicans ruled that the government is not required to release them.

* U.S. law specifies penalties for foreign nations that refuse to take back people who are slated for deportation:

On being notified by the Attorney General that the government of a foreign country denies or unreasonably delays accepting an alien who is a citizen, subject, national, or resident of that country after the Attorney General asks whether the government will accept the alien under this section, the Secretary of State shall order consular officers in that foreign country to discontinue granting immigrant visas or nonimmigrant visas, or both, to citizens, subjects, nationals, and residents of that country until the Attorney General notifies the Secretary that the country has accepted the alien.

* During a July 2016 congressional hearing, Obama administration officials from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security stated that:

the federal law above that requires the Secretary of State to stop granting visas to nations that won’t take back their people is a “very, very powerful tool” to remove criminal immigrants from the U.S.

the Obama administration has never “used” this law.

“Tens of thousands” of convicts who were slated for deportation have been released onto U.S. streets because their home countries refused to take them back.

* In 2014, the Obama administration “released from its custody 30,558 criminal aliens with a total of 79,059 convictions instead of deporting them.”

* Between October 1, 2010 and July 21, 2015, the Obama administration released 124 criminal aliens who were later charged with murder-related crimes committed in the U.S. after their release and before February 2016.

* In 2015, the Boston Globe published an investigation of immigrants convicted of sex crimes that were released since 2008 by the Bush and Obama administrations. It found that:

“hundreds of immigrants convicted of sex crimes who should have been deported” were instead “released in the United States because their homelands refused to take them back.”

“immigration officials have released them without making sure they register with local authorities as sex offenders.”

the Obama administration refused to reveal the names of these convicted sex offenders “to protect their privacy,” but the Boston Globe filed a federal lawsuit to force the release of these names by “arguing that the privacy policy endangered Americans and immigrants alike.”

the Globe won this lawsuit, but the Obama administration “provided complete records only for the criminals freed from 2008 to 2012, the year the Globe filed the lawsuit.” The Globe “demanded a more current list,” but the administration would not supply it.

“using the 2008 to 2012 list with names of more than 6,800 criminals, the Globe identified 424 released immigrants who had previously been convicted of sex-related crimes, including 209 who had appeared in the national public sex offender registry.”

“at least 34 of the 424 released sex offenders—including some who did register with local police—were back in jail as of last month, state records show, some for heinous crimes committed after ICE released them.”

Removing Convicts

* In November of 2014, the Obama administration formally changed its immigration enforcement policies to “focus on the removal of convicted felons and other public safety threats.” It did this by directing all immigration and border security personnel to:

apply “prosecutorial discretion” as to “whom to stop, question, and arrest; whom to detain or release; whether to settle, dismiss, appeal, or join in a motion on a case; and whether to grant deferred action, parole, or a stay of removal instead of pursuing removal” for all illegal immigrants.

never pursue the “removal of an alien not identified as a priority” unless an ICE Field Office Director concludes that “removing such an alien would serve an important federal interest.”

* Obama’s policy officially became effective on January 5, 2015 with “training and guidance … provided to the workforce prior to the effective date.”

* In the federal government’s 2015 and 2016 fiscal years (October 2014 through September 2016), ICE removed 21% fewer convicted criminals per year than in its 2014 fiscal year:

Detaining Convicts

* An immigration “detainer” or “hold” is a request from ICE to a local law enforcement agency to detain a non-citizen convicted of a criminal offense who has been taken into custody by local law enforcement. ICE typically asks the agency to hold the individual for 48 hours, so that ICE can decide whether or not the person should be deported and take appropriate action before the criminal is released.

* The Bush administration began issuing tens of thousands of detainers in the last three years of his presidency, reaching a peak of 186,978 in 2008. The Obama administration continued to increase this up to 309,697 detainers in 2011. Thereafter, the Obama administration issued fewer detainers every year though the end of his presidency, reaching a low of 13,253 in 2016:

* From 2012 to 2015, the Obama administration deported less than half of the people that ICE took into custody under immigration detainers.

* The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University is an organization that provides the public with “information about staffing, spending, and enforcement activities of the federal government.” Per a February 2017 report by this organization about immigration detainers:

“A recent and dramatic change” in ICE policies “occurred in the waning months of the Obama Administration.”

“Fields of information that ICE had routinely provided” in response to Freedom of Information Act requests “started getting left off the files … without explanation.”

These missing fields make the information “largely unusable.”

“Omitted, for example, from the files were … what actions ICE took to deport individuals once they were in ICE custody, along with many other data fields.”

“All of this information … are essential to the public’s understanding of what the agency is actually doing to enforce immigration laws.”

“Thus far, administrative appeals within the agency have been unavailing,” and a lawsuit “appears to be needed to challenge these new unlawful practices.

* In January 2017, Republican President Donald Trump issued an executive order to ensure “that jurisdictions that fail to comply with applicable federal” immigration laws or refuse to cooperate with efforts to enforce them “do not receive federal funds, except as mandated by law.”

* In February 2020, a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court ruled that the federal government can deny federal grants to states and localities that fail to comply with federal immigration laws or refuse to cooperate with efforts to enforce them.

Sanctuary Policies

* Sanctuary cities, counties, and states are those that shield certain illegal immigrants from deportation by refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Some of these governments have officially enacted sanctuary policies into law, and others implement them through less formal means.

* One of the primary ways that sanctuary jurisdictions shelter illegal immigrants is by releasing them from jail (and other forms of custody) before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can detain them under the following circumstances:

After state and local law enforcement agencies arrest people, they typically conduct criminal background checks by sending their fingerprints to the FBI. In accord with federal law, the FBI shares these fingerprints with ICE. In turn, ICE checks to see if the fingerprints match people who have been previously fingerprinted by immigration authorities.

When fingerprints match, ICE investigates to determine if the arrestee is a priority for deportation. Priorities generally include people with convictions or arrests for terrorism, aggravated assault, gang activity, drug distribution, firearm offenses, DUIs, repeated immigration violations, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and other crimes.

If ICE determines that an arrestee may be a priority for deportation, it issues a “detainer” or “hold” for him. This is an official request to the law enforcement agency asking it to notify ICE before releasing the suspect and/or to maintain custody of him for up to 48 hours. This allows ICE time to decide if the suspect should be deported and take appropriate action before he is released.

Sanctuary jurisdictions often flout these detainers and release the illegal immigrants before ICE can detain them.

* State and local law enforcement agencies declined to honor about:

21,205 detainers from January 2014 to September 2016. These agencies were located in 567 counties in 48 states, including the District of Columbia.

19,162 detainers from 2015 to 2017.

* Per U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement:

Declined detainers result in convicted criminals being released back into U.S. communities with the potential to re-offend, notwithstanding ICE’s requests for transfer of those individuals. Moreover, these releases constrain ICE’s civil immigration enforcement efforts because they required ICE to expend additional resources to locate and arrest convicted criminals who were at-large rather than transferred directly from jails into ICE custody, drawing resources away from other ICE enforcement efforts.

* Per the American Civil Liberties Union, “more than 300 jurisdictions across the country” have adopted “community trust policies,” and:

Far from being “sanctuary” zones, these localities recognize that immigrant victims and witnesses will not report crime if they fear that police are collaborating with immigration enforcement authorities—and thus, in order to combat crime, local police need to win and maintain the trust of immigrant communities.

* The following illegal immigrants have killed people after they were arrested and released by sanctuary jurisdictions that flouted ICE detainers for these individuals:

Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce, Joel Ernesto Escobar, and two other MS-13 gang members murdered Ariana Funes-Diaz, a 14-year-old Maryland girl, with a machete and baseball bat. Ponce and Escobar carried out this crime after they were arrested and released by Prince George’s County, MD for “attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, participation in gang activity, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted robbery, and other related charges.”

Nery Estrada Margos beat Veronica Cabrera Ramirez to death two weeks after Sonoma County, California Sheriff Rob Giordano released him following an arrest for beating the same woman. In this case, Giordano and his team: blamed ICE for this murder by stating that they notified ICE of the pending release but ICE failed to pick up Margos. released Margos 16 minutes after they notified ICE—while knowing that the nearest ICE office was 50 miles away—thus ensuring that ICE could not detain him. had released numerous other illegal immigrants in the same manner by not notifying ICE until shortly beforehand.

Edwin Ramos murdered Tony Bologna and two of his sons, Michael and Matthew. Ramos mistook one of the sons for a rival gang member and gunned down his family as they drove by in their car.

Victor Aureliano Martinez broke into the home of 64-year-old Marilyn Pharis, raped her, and beat her with a hammer. Jose Fernando Villagomez, a U.S. citizen, also participated in this crime.

Ever Valles fatally shot 32-year-old Tim Cruz during a robbery. Valles was a known gang member.

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez shot and killed 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle while she was out for a walk with her father and a family friend. Lopez-Sanchez had been deported five times.

Kendel Anthony Felix kidnapped and murdered New York real estate developer Menachem Stark. Felix was previously arrested and released on six occasions.

* The following illegal immigrants have been arrested for allegedly killing people after they were arrested and released by sanctuary jurisdictions that flouted ICE detainers for these individuals. The outcomes of their criminal cases were still pending as of March 2020:

Reeaz Khan allegedly raped and murdered Maria Fuertes, a 92-year old woman, in New York City. In this case: the administration of Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio claimed the city never received an ICE detainer and that the city honors detainers for people convicted of violent crimes committed within five years prior to their arrest. ICE released a fax verification report proving that the city had received the detainer. the city honored a total of 25 detainers in 2019 among 7,526 detainers issued for people with criminal histories that include “more than 3,500 assaults, 1,500 DUIs, 1,000 sex crimes, 1,000 weapon offenses, 500 robberies, and 200 homicide offenses.”

Carlos Eduardo Arevalo-Carranza allegedly stalked, beat, and stabbed to death Bambi Larson, a 59-year-old medical testing company manager who lived in San Jose, California. In this case, the accused was a gang member who had been previously arrested and convicted of burglary, battery of an officer, false imprisonment, and other crimes. ICE had filed at least nine detainers for him, all of which were ignored.

Carlos Iraheta-Vega allegedly murdered 16-year-old Juan Carlos Con Guzman by beating him with a baseball bat and chopping his neck with a machete. This case occurred in King County, Washington, which encompasses Seattle and surrounding areas.

Luis Rodrigo Perez allegedly shot and killed Steven Marler, Aaron Hampton, and Sabrina Starr in Springfield, Missouri. In this case, government officials of Middlesex County, NJ: disregarded an ICE detainer and released Perez less than a year before the killings. claimed that “all responsibility” for Perez’s actions rest “squarely upon ICE” because ICE didn’t obey their county policy of getting “an order of deportation from a federal judge.” disregarded the fact that federal law gives all immigration officers “power without warrant to arrest any alien in the United States, if he has reason to believe that the alien” is violating any immigration law.



* A California sanctuary law prohibits local law enforcement agencies from honoring ICE detainers under certain circumstances. During 2019, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was forced by this law to release 1,015 inmates with ICE detainers without notifying ICE. In February 2020, the county sheriff reported:

Of those inmates, 238 individuals were re-arrested for new crimes in Orange County including on charges of assault and battery, rape, and robbery, among others. These numbers only reflect individuals arrested on new charges and who were returned back to the Orange County Jail. It does not include individuals who may have committed crimes in Orange County and were released on citation, booked into a city jail or committed offenses in another county’s jurisdiction.

Donald Trump

* In January 2017, Republican President Donald Trump issued an executive order to ensure “that jurisdictions that fail to comply with applicable federal” immigration laws or refuse to cooperate with efforts to enforce them “do not receive federal funds, except as mandated by law.”

* In May 2019:

U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D–NV) sponsored a bill that would rescind Trump’s executive order. As of March 11, 2020: 23 Democrats, 1 Independent, and 0 Republicans had cosponsored this bill. the full Senate had not voted on it.

U.S. Congressman Tom McClintock (R–CA) sponsored a bill that would limit federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions. U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R–PA) sponsored the same bill in the Senate. As of March 11, 2020: 59 Republicans and 0 Democrats have cosponsored these bills. neither the full House nor full Senate had voted on them.



* In February 2020, a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court ruled that the federal government can deny federal grants to states and localities that fail to comply with federal immigration laws or refuse to cooperate with efforts to enforce them.

Illicit Drugs

* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control defines “illicit drugs” as those that are “prohibited by law” and used for “non-medical” purposes. These can include:

amphetamine-type stimulants, like meth and ephedrine.

marijuana or cannabis.

cocaine.

heroin and other opioids.

synthetic drugs, like ecstasy and fentanyl.

* Mexico is the primary source of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin in the United States. It is also one of the two primary sources of fentanyl.

* In the U.S. during 2018, roughly:

12,676 people were killed by amphetamine overdoses.

14,666 people were killed by cocaine overdoses.

14,996 people were killed by heroin overdoses.

31,335 people were killed by fentanyl overdoses.

* In the U.S. from 2010 to 2018, the overdose deaths rates for the drugs above grew by 3.5 to 9.9 times:

* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that:

the number of heroin deaths is undercounted by as much as 30 percent. This is due both to variations in state reporting procedures, and because heroin metabolizes into morphine very quickly in the body, making it difficult to determine the presence of heroin.

Identity, Document, & Tax Fraud

* Federal law generally prohibits illegal immigrants from earning income in the United States.

* According to the Social Security Administration, roughly 7.0 million or 65% of illegal immigrants worked for income during 2010.

* According to Pew Research, roughly 8.1 million or 72% of illegal immigrants worked for income or looked for such work during 2012.

* Illegal immigrants earn income in the U.S. by using fraudulent or expired documentation or working for cash “under the table” or “off the books.”

* In 2013, the chief actuary of the U.S. Social Security Administration estimated that in 2010:

0.6 million illegal immigrants “had temporary work authorized at some point in the past and have overstayed the term of their visas.”

0.7 million illegal immigrants worked by using Social Security numbers obtained by using “fraudulent birth certificates.”

1.8 million illegal immigrants worked by using Social Security numbers “that did not match their name.”

3.9 million illegal immigrants worked “in the underground economy.”

* In 2017, California Senate Leader and Democrat Kevin De Leon testified before the Senate’s Public Safety Committee:

I can tell you half of my family would be eligible for deportation under [Trump’s] executive order, because if they got a false Social Security card, if they got a false identification, if they got a false driver’s license … if they got a false green card. And anyone who has family members who are undocumented knows that almost entirely everybody has secured some sort of false identification.

* Federal laws states:

Whoever uses … an identification document knowing (or having reason to know) that the document is false … shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

* The law above was initially enacted in 1986 as part of a comprehensive immigration reform compromise between political parties, business interests, religious groups, and ethnic organizations. The resulting bill was approved by 58% of the House and 72% of the Senate, and Republican President Ronald Reagan signed it into law. This legislation:

legalized most illegal immigrants who had been in the U.S. since the beginning of 1982 and gave them a path to citizenship.

made verification of immigration status a “lasting requirement for all new hires.”

“was meant as a one-time resolution of a longstanding problem.”

* In 2002, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published an investigation of identity fraud by immigrants. It found that:

“the use of fraudulent documents by aliens is extensive.”

“at ports of entry,” immigration officials “have intercepted tens of thousands of fraudulent documents in each of the last few years.”

“the types of false documents most frequently intercepted … include border crossing cards, alien registration cards, nonimmigrant visas, and passports and citizenship documents (both U.S. and foreign).”

“significant numbers of aliens unauthorized to work in the United States have used fraudulent documents to circumvent the employment verification process designed to prevent employers from hiring them.”

“in November 1998 in Los Angeles,” immigration officials “seized nearly two million counterfeit documents, such as … permanent resident cards and Social Security cards, which were headed for distribution points around the country.”

“some aliens use fraudulent documents in connection with more serious illegal activities, such as narcotics trafficking and terrorism.”

* Per a 2005 article in the New York Times:

Currently available for about $150 on street corners in just about any immigrant neighborhood in California, a typical fake ID package includes a green card and a Social Security card.

* In 2010, an ABC News affiliate in Utah reported:

“As of February, 1,265 Utah children, under the age of 12, are victims of somebody else misusing their [Social Security] number.” This figure accounts only for reported cases.

Utah Assistant Attorney General Rich Hamp stated, “In virtually every case we have investigated, with the exception of one, it has come back to an illegal immigrant.”

“Hamp says it is just so much easier to use a child’s number versus an adult’s number. ‘Someone on a child’s number is going to get away with years of misuse before anyone discovers it.’ ”

” “The state estimates around 20,000 Utah children’s numbers are being used. Some, like Ron Mortensen, a child identity expert, believe the number could be closer to 50,000.”

* In 2016, the IRS Inspector General reported:

During “the period February 2011 to December 2015, the IRS identified almost 1.1 million taxpayers who were victims of employment-related identity theft.”

“In cases of employment-related identity theft, the discrepancy results from the innocent taxpayer’s stolen identity being used by another individual to gain employment. This can cause significant burden to innocent taxpayers, including the incorrect computation of taxes based on income that does not belong to them.”

* In 2017, the IRS identified about 556,000 taxpayers who were victims of employment-related identity theft.

* Willfully evading federal taxes is a felony offense punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations.

* In 2013, the chief actuary of the U.S. Social Security Administration estimated that 3.9 million or 36% of illegal immigrants worked “in the underground economy” during 2010.

* Per the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate, unpaid taxes represent an effective tax on most taxpayers “to subsidize noncompliance by others” and:

IRS data show that when taxpayers have a choice about reporting their income, voluntary tax compliance rates are disturbingly low.

* In instances where income was reported to the IRS and withheld by third parties (such as employers), the noncompliance rate was about 1% from 2011 to 2013. In instances where income was not subject to reporting or withholding, the noncompliance rate was 55%.

Tax Credits

* Tax credits are provisions of tax law that reduce income taxes for people who engage in certain behaviors or meet other criteria. Some tax credits are refundable, and low-income households with tax credits that exceed the income tax they owe receive the difference as cash payments from the federal government. Per the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration, “the risk of fraud for these types of claims is significant.”

* Federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving most federal benefits, but the IRS has concluded that this restriction does not apply to refundable child tax credits.

* In 2019, the maximum refundable child tax credit is $1,400 per child.

* In 2010, the IRS paid out $4.2 billion in refundable child tax credits to 2.3 million tax filers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States.

* In 2012, WTHR, an NBC News affiliate in Indiana, aired a report by investigative journalist Bob Segall about illegal immigrants who were fraudulently obtaining child tax credits by claiming credit for children who live in Mexico. The IRS responded to the report by stating that the agency “has procedures in place specifically for the evaluation of questionable credit claims early in the processing stream and prior to issuance of a refund.”

* In the wake of the WTHR news report, 11 current and former IRS employees contacted WHTR and made statements such as the following:

“I just saw your report and there’s something I need to tell you. I see this stuff every day and there isn’t anything I can do about it.”

“Most of these documents are fraudulent and there’s absolutely no system here to catch it.”

“We don’t have the resources to follow up on much and we’re not allowed to flag problems.”

“We get applications from Mexico, Honduras, China, Japan, Bulgaria, all over the world. … I guarantee 90% of them are phony. We see the same signatures hundreds of times. We see the same docs photocopied and attached to different applications. It’s the same person, same photo, same address. I’ve seen the same birth certificate twelve times now in the past day.”

* Two months later, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration published an audit of the IRS department that handles tax returns for illegal immigrants and foreign investors. Since these individuals are ineligible to receive Social Security Numbers, the IRS issues them ITINs (Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers). The audit found:

The IRS had issued 9,909 ITINS to 9,522 people allegedly living at a single address in Tulsa, Oklahoma (more examples in footnote).

The IRS had mailed 23,994 ITIN refunds totaling $46,378,040 to a single address in Atlanta, Georgia (more examples in footnote).

The IRS had deposited 2,706 ITIN refunds totaling $7,319,518 into a single bank account (more examples in footnote).

In 2010, the IRS eliminated a process used to detect fraud in ITIN applications.

“The environment created by [IRS] management discourages tax examiners from identifying questionable ITIN applications.”

* With regard to fraudulent tax refunds obtained through identity theft, IRS Inspector General J. Russell George stated, “Once the money is out the door, it is almost impossible to get it back.”

* Various members of Congress have sponsored bills to prevent the IRS from awarding refundable child tax credits to illegal immigrants, none of which have become law. For example:

In 2012, Republican Congressman Paul Ryan sponsored a wide-ranging bill with a provision that would restrict illegal immigrants from obtaining refundable child tax credits. The bill passed the House of Representatives with 90% of Republicans voting for it and 96% of Democrats voting against it. The Senate never voted on it.

In 2013, Republican Congressman Sam Johnson sponsored a bill that would restrict illegal immigrants from obtaining refundable child tax credits. The bill was cosponsored by 67 Republicans and no Democrats. It was never voted upon.

In 2015, Republican Congressman Larry Bucshon sponsored a bill that would restrict illegal immigrants from obtaining refundable child tax credits. The bill was cosponsored by four Republicans and no Democrats. The House never voted on it.

In 2017, Republican Congressman Gus Bilirakis sponsored a bill that would restrict illegal immigrants from obtaining refundable child tax credits. The bill was cosponsored by two Republicans and no Democrats. The House never voted on it.

* In 2017, Congress passed and President Trump signed a law that forbids parents from receiving child tax credits unless their children are U.S. citizens and have a Social Security number. Due to birthright citizenship, about 88% of the children of illegal immigrants are U.S. citizens.

* Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposal calls for restricting illegal immigrants from obtaining refundable child tax credits.