(FeaturedHeadlines.com) – Illegal immigrants with criminal records are flooding into the United States amid the Biden administration’s unwillingness to secure the nation’s borders, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report released on December 29. Nearly half of people arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in fiscal year 2023 had criminal convictions or pending charges, the report indicated.
ERO conducted 170,590 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2023, up 19.5% from the previous year. Of the individuals arrested in 2023, 43.3% had pending criminal charges or convictions, up from 32.5% in fiscal year 2022.
There were 290,178 charges and convictions among the 73,822 people arrested with criminal histories, averaging approximately four per person, the report said. The charges and convictions include 1,713 for homicide, 1,655 for kidnapping, and 4,390 for sexual assaults.
ERO also conducted 3,003 criminal arrests and achieved 3,120 criminal convictions for a range of offenses, including immigration-related violations, weapons crimes, fraud, and assault.
In December, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) documented more than 302,000 migrant encounters at the southern border—the highest figure ever recorded in a single month. CBP reported upwards of 785,000 migrant encounters in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, which began on October 1, similarly marking the highest quarterly figure ever recorded.
The immigration crisis has spurred House lawmakers to launch an impeachment effort against the Biden administration’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. On January 3, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green announced that the panel will hold a hearing on January 10 to address Mayorkas’ handling of the situation at the border.
Mayorkas’ decision-making and unwillingness to enforce border security measures are at the root of the immigration crisis, Green said in a statement. Mayorkas’ failure to abide by his oath of office requires accountability, Green added.
Although the Republican-majority House of Representatives may be able to adopt articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, the Democrat-majority Senate would then have to find him guilty in an impeachment trial, the likelihood of which is slim.
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