A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies stating over 36,000 criminal immigrants is causing a stir among some in Congress, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) calling the Obama administration’s release of the criminal immigrants “the worst prison break in American history.”
The CIS report provides a detailed account of ICE’s release of 36,007 “criminal immigrants,” who, as Breitbart News reports, collectively accumulated nearly 88,000 convictions, including “193 homicide convictions, 426 sexual assault convictions, 303 kidnapping convictions, and 1,075 aggravated assault convictions.”
CIS detailed the document’s findings in a report Monday morning, explaining that ICE prepared the document in response to congressional inquiries seeking additional information about the number of criminal aliens released into the United States and the crimes for which they were convicted.
Smith, one of the congressman who pressed DHS for these answers, decried ICE’s release of the criminal immigrants a statement released Monday:
This would be considered the worst prison break in American history, except it was sanctioned by the President and perpetrated by our own immigration officials. These criminal immigrants should have been deported to ensure that they could never commit crimes on U.S. soil. But instead, ICE officials chose not to detain them and instead released them back onto American streets.
Smith highlighted the kinds of offenses committed by many of the released immigrants, arguing that the administration was attempting to white wash the offenses:
Obama administration officials want the American people to think these individuals were guilty of minor, petty offenses. But the convictions tell a chilling story. Among those released were criminal immigrants convicted of murder, rape, kidnapping, drunk driving, and aggravated assault.
He also argued that immigration reform must be off the table until current immigration laws are adequately enforced:
There should be no discussion of reforming our nation’s immigration laws until the President enforces the laws currently on the books. The safety of the American people should be the President’s top priority. We need a President who follows the law and deports criminal immigrants who violate our laws and endanger our lives.
