WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) issued a statement following the release of new data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) showing that, as of July 21, 2024, nearly 650,000 criminal illegal aliens were currently on ICE’s Non-Detained Docket (NDD) and roaming free in communities throughout the United States. This figure includes roughly 15,000 individuals convicted of or charged with murder, more than 20,000 of sexual assault, and more than 105,000 of assault: 
 
“It may be shocking to hear that the Biden-Harris administration is actively releasing tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens into our communities, but their own numbers conclusively prove this to be the case. This defies all common sense. Under President Biden and his ‘border czar,’ Vice President Harris, DHS law enforcement has been directed to mass-release illegal aliens whom they know have criminal convictions or are facing charges for serious crimes—and these dangerous, destructive individuals are making their way into every city and state in this country. How many more Americans need to die or be victimized before this administration is forced to abide by the laws they swore to uphold? This is madness. It is something no civilized, well-functioning society should tolerate.”
 
Background: 

Last week, ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner sent a letter to lawmakers detailing the number of criminal aliens on ICE’s national docket. As of July 21, 2024, nearly 650,000 criminal aliens were on the NDD—meaning they had previously been encountered by CBP, turned over to ICE, had their criminal history documented, and then were released into the United States. 
 
The specific breakdown of what types of criminals have been released is just as sobering. The following numbers include both convicted criminals and those with pending charges for the specific offense. In all categories, the former exceeded the latter:  

• Homicide: 14,944
• Sexual Assault: 20,061
• Assault: 105,146
• Burglary/Larceny/Robbery: 60,268
• Traffic Offenses: 126,343
• Weapon Offenses: 16,820
• Kidnapping: 3,372
• Commercialized Sexual Offenses: 3,971

In its recent report, “Crisis by Design,” the House Committee on Homeland Security documented how DHS law enforcement often have very little information to use in vetting illegal aliens crossing the border, and the massive flood of illegal border crossers under the Biden-Harris administration has made this task even more difficult. According to former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott, vetting has become a “check-the-box exercise.” The fact that in hundreds of thousands of cases, criminal illegal aliens are being released even after derogatory information about them has been discovered is simply inexcusable, and can be traced back to the Biden-Harris administration’s policy of mass “catch and release.” 
 
The number of criminal aliens crossing illegally under Biden and Harris’ leadership is astounding. From FY21 through FY24 year-to-date, the Border Patrol recorded more than 53,000 arrests of illegal aliens with criminal backgrounds, approximately 30,000 more such arrests than FY17-20. By October 2023, the Border Patrol was apprehending more than 47 illegal aliens per day with “serious criminal histories.” According to one veteran agent, “[t]here’s really nothing stopping them from coming here at this point.” Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Dustin Caudle of the Border Patrol’s Yuma Sector told the Committee last year that “any crime that can be committed, we do encounter people who have committed them.”
 

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