Former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been ramping up the anti-immigrant rhetoric throughout the campaign, with immigration having become his go-to issue as November approaches.
Last week he claimed that immigrants have "destroyed" Paris and London at a rally. A couple of days later he vowed to end the CHNV Humanitarian Parole Program, labeling those who've benefited from the program as "illegal immigrants who should not be in the country."
The Trump campaign is also mentioning stats to support its criticism of the Biden administration's border policies. On Friday it appeared to find a way as Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Tex.) published a letter on his X account from acting ICE Director P.J. Lechleitner with a caption from Gonzales that read: "As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE's national docket—13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!"
As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket—13,099 criminally convicted MURDERS!
— Rep. Tony Gonzales (@RepTonyGonzales) September 27, 2024
Americans deserve to be SAFE in our own communities. pic.twitter.com/fIoCAduJ9M
At rallies over the weekend, Trump echoed the report, blaming the Biden administration for the release of thousands of immigrants with criminal records who are now "free to roam and kill in our country":
NEW—President Trump reacts to the bombshell report from ICE detailing how failed Border Czar Kamala Harris let hundreds of thousands of criminals invade America including 13,099 known murderers and 25,272 known rapists and sexual predators. pic.twitter.com/d48q99oeFF
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 27, 2024
However, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement to several outlets like The Washington Post, claiming that Republicans are "misinterpreting" the ICE data as the numbers actually go back decades and "includes people who entered the country over the past 40 year or more, the vast majority of whose custody determination was made long before this administration."
In fact, DHS explains that the 13,099 immigrants with murder convictions cited by Trump and his allies are part of ICE's "non-detained" docket, a list of nearly 7 million people who have pending immigration cases before the agency but who are not jailed by ICE for various reasons — such as because they are currently incarcerated by federal, state or local authorities or because they have already served their criminal sentences but have not been deported.
The Post also quotes an interview Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) gave to "Fox News Sunday", in which he explained why the number offered by his Republican colleagues is misleading:
"Those 13,000 convicted of homicide, they may not be in ICE custody, but most of them are in prison, state, federal or local prisons and will be deported as soon as they finish serving their prison terms under the Biden-Harris administration."
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