Identity theft is a serious crime that has victimized 33 percent of Americans. Unfortunately, it is a significant offense with lasting effects – about 69 percent of victims fear for their financial safety, and 8 percent have even felt suicidal. It is an epidemic that has ruined the lives of countless Americans, yet many people do not realize that illegal aliens are often the perpetrators in this crime.

Take the Mississippi raid in August, for example. Out of the 680 removable aliens detained at the processing plants, more than 400 had used the stolen identities of U.S. citizens to get their jobs, according to Jere Miles, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations. He was a witness at a field hearing about the raid last week.

Four Democratic lawmakers, including Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, hosted the hearing in Mississippi, and it was during questioning that Miles revealed more than 400 of the removable aliens used stolen Social Security numbers. In addition, six had a history of domestic violence, and one even had a history of committing rape.

Despite the fact that the raid uncovered a multitude of fraud cases and is still ongoing, the members of Congress used their time to virtue signal to the open-borders lobby by criticizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents for simply performing their jobs. Lee accused ICE of separating parents from their children by following through with the raid on the first day of school, but conveniently ignored the fact that Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. U.S. citizens were affected by the actions of these illegal aliens.

It’s unfortunate that many members of Congress care more about people who shouldn’t even be here than the safety of Americans they were elected to serve. If lawmakers were actually doing their jobs, it is possible that illegal aliens committing identity theft would not be as big of an issue as it is today.

Between 2012 and 2016, there were 39 million cases of potential identity theft, according to the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). Additionally, one million children have their identities stolen each year, which can result in many having trouble receiving loans or buying houses as adults. While not all of these stolen identities are used by illegal aliens, they are a significant part of the problem. For example, there is a growing number of cases of illegal aliens using stolen identities to open bank accounts or to buy cars, ruining the credit of Americans in the process.

Yet, those who support open borders treat the perpetrators as the victims. As the hearing showed, some members of Congress would rather demonize law enforcement than actually fix the issues plaguing this nation. Until our elected officials recognize the problem and decide to actually do something, the issue will persist and more innocent people will suffer.