This article is also available in Spanish on El Tiempo Latino.
Tom Homan, who served as the border czar during the Trump administration, keeps stating that there are “over 600,000 illegal aliens with criminal records walking the streets of this nation.” This assertion is misleading and requires some digging to understand the truth.
First off, this figure actually counts legal immigrants as well, not just those who entered the U.S. illegally. Additionally, around a third of those counted have merely been charged without any resulting conviction, and it’s ambiguous how many among them are currently incarcerated. This stat also spans individuals who have crossed the border over numerous decades.
On July 12, during the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, and once again on July 7, Homan reiterated this claim. Fox News reported that new funding would drastically increase the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from 5,000 to 15,000. In this context, Homan stated, “This is going to make this community safer… We’ve got over 600,000 illegal aliens with criminal records.”
The White House indicated that Homan’s statements were drawn from a 2024 letter written by Patrick Lechleitner, then Deputy Director of the Department of Homeland Security, which answered a request from Texas Representative Tony Gonzales. This request was focused on the number of noncitizens associated with crimes listed on the ICE docket.
Last available data, shared by a White House representative, showed nearly 650,000 noncitizens with criminal backgrounds were on the “Non-Detained Docket” — meaning they had been charged, yet not put into ICE custody as of July 2024.
However, Homan’s claim is missing key details. Out of the total number of individuals with checked backgrounds, 126,343 — roughly 20% — had traffic-related offenses. Additionally, around 92,075 were involved in immigration-related offenses. Thus, more than a third of these individuals don’t have significant violent crime histories.
To put this in perspective, while 14,944 had homicide charges, 20,061 faced sexual assault charges, 105,146 were charged with assault, 30,631 for larceny, and 21,106 for fraudulent activities.
It’s also crucial to mention that not every person included in the stats has been convicted; about 222,141, or a third of the total, were only charged. There’s also no way of knowing how many of these pending charges ended with a conviction.
Moreover, this data does not differentiate between those who crossed the border unlawfully, those who overstayed also fear immigrant treaties overstated work permits, as well as those legally living here.
According to Michelle Mittelstadt from the Migration Policy Institute, “The non-detained docket includes unauthorized immigrants, green-card holders, and noncitizens on long-term non-immigrant visas who have become removable due to their criminal convictions.”
After releasing this data in late September 2024, then-candidate Trump distorted the narrative. He even claimed that then-Vice President Kamala Harris “let in 13,099 convicted murderers,” and more recently suggested there were “11,888 murderers.” It seems both references derive from the same inflated and misinterpreted statistics.
Although we posed questions to the White House about these conflicting numbers, all we received back was a statement from spokesperson Abigail Jackson arguing that under President Joe Biden’s agenda, dangerous criminals — including murderers and rapists — have entered into your communities.
Previously covered data by DHS clarified that these figures reflect more than just recent arrivals, encompassing people who have been here for the last 40 years or more. Also, the agency stated that the enumerated 647,572 individuals are not necessarily in ICE custody, given that some are under control of state or local law enforcement.
Finally, it is worth noting that individuals with criminal records who are not in detention have typically already completed their sentences. There’s an opportunity that some have been deported as well since the thrust during the Trump years aimed at deporting those with criminal histories remains evident today. Unfortunately, when asked about updated numbers, DHS fell short of providing a reply, opting instead to release another statement highlighting partnerships to focus on removing severe offenders.
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