Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents question a man while his vehicle is being searched after he was stopped heading into Mexico at the Hidalgo border crossing.
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More than 13,000 immigrants convicted of murder — either in the United States or abroad — are living freely in the U.S. outside of Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, according to figures ICE provided to Congress earlier this week.
The immigrants are part of ICE’s “non-detained” docket, meaning the agency has some information about the immigrants and they have pending immigration cases in the U.S. but are not currently in custody either because they are not a priority for detention or because ICE can’t find them.
ICE Deputy Director PJ Lechleitner sent the data, which was collected on July 21, as part of a request sent in March by Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas.
It is not clear when the first of the 13,000 immigrants crossed into the US Two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the data told NBC News that many of the immigrants in ICE’s non-detention facility, including serious criminals, crossed into the U.S. under previous administrations, including former President Donald Trump‘small.
During a campaign in Michigan on Friday, Trump used the data to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris for current immigration policies.
“I can finally look at them and say ‘I told you so’ to fake news.” Trump he said. “These are tough, tough, vicious criminals who are free to roam our country.”
THE White House has yet to comment on the data. An official told NBC News that the release of the data came as a surprise to the White House.
The 13,099 immigrants convicted of homicide living in the U.S. may never have had contact with ICE, the two law enforcement officials said. Some may have crossed the border and then been released because the Border Patrol does not have information on their criminal history. In many cases, the US is not notified of someone’s criminal conviction until after they have passed through the country.
In other cases, immigrants convicted of crimes may be released by state and local officials after serving their time without notifying ICE, as is the case in many sanctuary cities. ICE must then locate the convict after his release in order to detain and deport him.
The two law enforcement officials said ICE prioritizes immigrants convicted of serious crimes, such as murder, for arrest.
But the agency’s limited resources limit how many they can track down and arrest. There are currently more than 7.5 million immigrants on ICE’s “non-detained” website, meaning they have pending immigration cases but are not currently in custody.
Lechleitner told NBC News more local jurisdictions are working together and are beginning to review their asylum policies in light of increased attention to immigrant crime.
NBC News joined ICE agents in Maryland earlier this year when they arrested a man convicted of murder in Colombia and a man convicted of attempted murder in El Salvador.
Agents explained that tracking down convicted felons who are at large requires a tremendous amount of manpower, from tracking them down to arresting them.