Just the facts, please!
The facts about migrants with criminal convictions in the U.S.
The Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent a letter to Representative Tony Gonzales (R - TX) last week that contained data on noncitizens with criminal histories in the U.S. Some media outlets and politicians are misrepresenting the information included in the letter, stating that the 425,431 total convicted criminals on the non-detained docket (NDD) as of July 2024 are entries that occurred during President Biden’s term. However, according to ICE, the data spans a number of presidential administrations. In an email statement, an ICE spokesperson clarified that “[t]he data in this letter is being misinterpreted. The data goes back decades; it includes individuals who entered the country over the past 40 years or more, the vast majority of whose custody determination was made long before this Administration. It also includes many who are under the jurisdiction or currently incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement partners.”
Furthermore, the CATO Institute noted that the 13,099 people with homicide convictions mentioned in the data are not living freely in the country, but migrants who are incarcerated for homicide in federal and state prisons are not listed on the NDD because they are not currently detained by ICE. The Institute goes on to explain that the number of criminal migrants released fell during the current Administration as compared to former President Trump’s administration. Additionally, U.S. law requires noncitizens convicted of homicide to be detained pending deportation unless they have served their sentence and the U.S. does not have repatriation agreements with their home countries.
Refugee admissions for 2025
President Biden signed the The Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for FY 2025 on Monday, demonstrating the country’s commitment to again welcome up to 125,000 refugees this year. The Determination states, “[t]he admission of up to 125,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that the U.S. resettled 100,000 refugees in FY 2024, the largest number in 30 years. In his press statement he highlighted that refugees contributed almost $124 billion to the U.S. economy over a 15-year period.
Written by Jenifer Wellman, our Advocacy Director at We Choose Welcome.
