The total number of undocumented immigrants convicted of murder in the United States is likely “tens of thousands” higher than the 13,400 listed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) national documents. Given that border crossers' criminal records are not recognized in their home countries, they are incorporated into the data, data experts told Fox News Digital.
Staggering numbers released last week through ICE's national documents show that 277 non-citizens are currently in ICE custody and 13,099 non-citizens are on non-custodial records with murder convictions. There is. ICE's nondetention records include noncitizens who have received a final order of removal or are in removal proceedings but are not detained in ICE custody.
It is unclear how many of the 13,099 convicted murderers not in ICE custody are incarcerated by federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies or are roaming the streets. There are a further 1,845 people on the remand docket who are not in custody on suspicion of murder.
A total of 662,566 noncitizens with criminal records are in ICE's national records spanning decades.
U.S. authorities want Peruvian gang leader for killing nearly 20 people in his home country: 'grave threat'
Texas National Guard soldiers watch over 1,000 migrants cross the Rio Grande from Mexico overnight in Eagle Pass, Texas, December 18, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)
The numbers highlight that illegal immigration and the lack of thorough vetting of immigrants poses a serious threat to law-abiding people living in the United States, a number that border security advocates say sparked protests.
Sean Kennedy, who specializes in law enforcement and crime data analysis, said the number of noncitizens convicted of murder in the United States is higher than the number of noncitizens convicted of other crimes, such as assault and rape, who are in ICE custody. This is far more than the 13,376 non-citizens. These convictions only apply to crimes committed in the United States, so the jail record is It is not a murder committed in the immigrant's home country.
”“We don't know how many people who have come to the United States in the last few years, let alone the last few decades, have been convicted or committed crimes overseas,” Kennedy said. Criminal backgrounds are never properly investigated because their country's criminal history is insufficient, incompatible with, or clearly not shared with the United States. And we've seen this many times. ”
As an example of the vetting process, President Kennedy cited Peruvian gang leader Gianfranco Torres, who is wanted on nearly 20 murder charges in his home country and illegally entered the United States at the Texas-Mexico border on May 16. He cited the Navarro case. Allowing violent criminals to enter the United States
He was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol near Rome, Texas, and released to the U.S. with a notice to appear in immigration proceedings, Fox News revealed. It took nearly two months for federal authorities to learn that Torres-Navarro was wanted in Peru on 23 murder charges, including that of a former police officer.
“He was a high-ranking member of a drug organization, but we didn't know that because either Peru didn't tell us or the database was so limited that he wasn't listed in the database that we had access to.” said Kennedy.
Gianfranco Torres Navarro, a Peruvian gang leader wanted on 23 murder charges, was arrested by ICE after being arrested and released at the border. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
President Kennedy said that although the federal database contains a list of criminals primarily committed within the United States and by persons considered national security threats, many of the national security threats are He said that his identity could not be determined and that no biometric data existed. As fingerprints — not collected.
“So if you're living in the mountains of Afghanistan and you're using a false name, we have no idea.” [that] Scan your fingerprint and you're that person,” Kennedy said, noting that governments are not readily providing data. “The Taliban government is not sharing it. The Chinese don't tell us who the spies are, let alone the Russians or the Tajiks or whatever.''
Kennedy said they will be joined by about 2 million so-called “fugitives” who crossed the border in the past three years but were never met by Border Patrol agents.
“I have no idea who they are,” he added.
President Kennedy said that when Border Patrol encounters migrants at the border, Border Patrol will ask for basic information such as their name and place of birth, as well as collect biometric information and create a national database of all state and local crimes. He said he would register it with the National Crime Information Center. information. We also work with various federal agencies, such as the TSA, and process data through a list of national veterinary centers that work with other countries.
“But that data is also very limited, because what each country submits is completely voluntary… and worse, it does not share complete and free information about the crime situation in its country. Few countries are party to agreements that do so,” Kennedy said.
“As a result, we have little information about foreign nationals crossing the border, and very little verifiable information.” [and] Many people who cross the border do not have formal government documentation, and in some cases, none at all. ”
Victor Martinez Hernandez, an illegal immigrant, was charged with brutally raping and murdering Rachel Morin, a mother of five, in Maryland on August 5, 2023. (Tulsa Police Department/Facebook)
According to ICE data from last week, of those on non-custodial records, 62,231 people were convicted of assault, 14,301 were convicted of robbery, and 56,533 people were convicted of robbery. were convicted of drug charges and 13,099 were convicted of murder. A further 2,521 people have been convicted of kidnapping and 15,811 people have been convicted of sexual assault.
It is unclear how many noncitizens listed on the National Register entered the United States illegally or legally. For example, a permanent resident green card holder who is convicted of a crime may be subject to deportation upon conviction and end up on the national record.
Kennedy, executive director of the Coalition for Law, Order and Safety, a nonprofit research group that researches and advocates for effective public safety policies, is the chief executive of nearly 13,400 noncitizens convicted of murder. Part said the killings were carried out while maintaining public order. It also says that even if a person serves time in prison, he or she will not necessarily be deported because his or her home country can refuse to take him back.
Homeland Security report warns that illegal immigrants with 'terrorist ties' will continue to use the border
That's because in the 2001 case Zadvydas v. Davis, the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to indefinitely detain people who should be deported if they cannot be deported.
President Kennedy said there are no exact numbers on the actual homicide conviction rate for noncitizens, but it can be measured by extrapolating the numbers from the Texas investigation into noncitizen crimes and applying them to the national conviction rate. said.
The investigation is Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS); According to research, since June 2011, undocumented immigrants have been charged with more than 1,100 murders, more than 3,500 sexual assaults, and more than 3,700 other sex crimes.
This means that while the overall Texas murder conviction rate at the time was 2.88 per 100,000 residents, the conviction rate for illegal immigrants was 3.25 per 100,000 residents, or 13% higher. . In contrast, legal immigrants were significantly less likely to be convicted of murder than illegal immigrants or the overall Texas population.
“So if you extrapolate this nationally, in addition to those 13,000 people, there are tens of thousands more who have committed murders here,” Kennedy explained.
Jocelyn Nangaray, 12, was found strangled to death in a Houston stream. Venezuelan immigrants Franklin Pena, 26, and Johan Martínez Rangel, 22, were charged last month with capital murder in connection with Nungaray's murder. (Courtesy of Fox Houston and the Nangarai family)
“There are many people who are in the United States illegally who are committing crimes that we just don’t know about. There are also people who are committing crimes in the United States that we don’t know about. There are a lot of them. They may be fugitives or have somehow slipped through the cracks, and that population is a wild card for U.S. law enforcement.”
“When you import hundreds of thousands of young Salvadoran men, or Venezuelan men, who for decades were the murder capital of the world, their murder rate was 20%, so many of them committed murder. It's more than likely that he was involved in a murder or was an accomplice to a murder.'' Kennedy added.
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Kennedy said a Texas DPS study found that more than 20% of incarcerated illegal immigrant killers were unknown to DHS, and this is likely to be the case in other states as well. , added that the number would again be even higher.
“These are all preventable crimes. If these people hadn't come here, they wouldn't have committed these crimes,” Kennedy explained. “So when we learn that someone has a criminal record, we have a duty to first protect the public, some of whom are criminals, criminals, violent, terrorists, and others who pose a threat to the public safety of the United States. We have a duty to ensure that we do not introduce this identity into the world.”
