WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 15, 2023) - For the past three years, the Biden administration has asserted that its immigration policies prioritize addressing criminal aliens more effectively than the Trump administration. However, a
Center for Immigration Studies analysis comparing ICE criminal data from fiscal years 2017-2019 to 2021-2023 finds that criminal aliens have been top beneficiaries of the Biden administration’s immigration agenda.
Contrary to the administration’s promises, official data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show a significant decline in arrests, prosecutions, and removals of criminal aliens under the Biden administration compared to the Trump administration.
The report, authored by Jon Feere, the Center’s Director of Investigations and a former ICE Chief of Staff, reveals alarming statistics:
- 57 percent decrease in arrests of criminal aliens
- 68 percent decrease in at-large arrests of criminal aliens
- 44 percent decrease in detainer requests issued on criminal aliens
- 67 percent decrease in deportations of criminal aliens
- 55 percent decrease in immigration-related criminal convictions
The report further exposes the impact on public safety by examining total numbers of offences on the records of aliens arrested (many committed more than one crime). The findings: a 63 percent decrease in larceny records, a 57 percent decrease in stolen vehicle records, a 55 percent decrease in burglary records, a 48 percent decrease in assault records, a 47 percent decrease in robbery records, a 34 percent decrease in kidnapping records, and significant decreases in all other criminal record categories reported by ICE.
Notably, compared to the first three years of the Trump administration, the Biden administration’s policies have led to a 56 percent decrease in the total number of criminal offenses on the records of aliens arrested.
Feere states, “The Biden administration’s failed policies have proven that taking large numbers of criminal aliens off our streets requires a robust, broad approach to enforcement. Their gutting of immigration enforcement has been a win for criminal aliens and a disaster for public safety. If Congress wants to put an end to the lawlessness, it must significantly increase resources for interior enforcement and demand that taxpayer funds are spent in a manner that gets results.”
