The latest annual report from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows more than 6,600 illegal aliens caught in the past year were convicted murderers or sex offenders. The report covers Fiscal Year 2018, which spans October 2017 to September 2018. Overall, ICE arrested nearly 160,000 illegal aliens during that period, the highest number since Fiscal Year 2014. Of those, about 105,000 were convicted criminals for offenses like drunk driving, assault, burglary, kidnapping, robbery and sexual assault.
While the murder and sexual offender numbers are reason for concern, there's also a major threat from other crimes considered "non-violent." "The most common offense (among illegal aliens) was drunk driving, and we know that drunk driving is responsible for a lot of deaths in this country every year," says Ira Mehlman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
Mehlman tells KTRH this report should be a wake-up call to many Democrats and liberals who have called for the abolition of ICE. "In spite of the fact that some of the incoming members of the Democratic majority in the House want to abolish ICE, it serves a very important role in protecting public safety," he says. "Instead of trying to undermine ICE, what we need is bipartisan consensus in Congress to support them so they can do their job."
In addition to supporting ICE, Mehlman also hopes these crime numbers will force liberal leaders to re-examine so-called sanctuary policies that protect illegal aliens. "There is absolutely no reason why we should tolerate people in this country who are here illegally, and then committing other offenses once they're here," he says.