ICE has reported that more than 13,000 immigrants convicted of homicide, either in the United States or abroad, are currently living freely in the U.S. under the agency’s “non-detained” docket. This means they have pending immigration cases but are not in detention due to various reasons, including lack of prioritization or inability to locate them. The data was sent to Congress in response to a request from Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales. Many of these individuals crossed into the U.S. under previous administrations, including former President Donald Trump’s. Trump used this data to criticize current immigration policies during a campaign stop in Michigan.
The release of this data came as a surprise to the White House, which has not commented on it yet. Some immigrants may have never had contact with ICE, while others may have been released by state and local officials without ICE’s knowledge, especially in sanctuary cities. ICE prioritizes immigrants convicted of serious crimes like homicide for arrest, but their limited resources hinder their ability to locate and detain all of them. More local jurisdictions are reportedly cooperating with ICE in light of increased attention on migrant crime.
NBC News followed ICE agents in Maryland earlier this year as they arrested individuals convicted of murder in Colombia and attempted murder in El Salvador. The process of locating and apprehending convicted criminals living freely in the U.S. requires substantial manpower.
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