Illinois Senate Republicans recently learned through data provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that there are over 600,000 migrants with criminal histories living in the United States. This week State Senator Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) joined Senators Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley), Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet), and Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) in demanding Illinois-specific data on the number of immigrant-criminals who are currently in Illinois due to weak border policies from the Biden-Harris administration.
“These are alarming statistics. According to ICE, there are over 435,000 illegals who have been convicted of crimes and another almost 227,000 facing pending charges,” said Wilcox. “Of those, ICE says roughly 62,000 migrants have been convicted of assault, 13,000 convicted of homicide, and more than 15,000 convicted of sexual assault. How many are in Illinois? We don’t know, because the data we have is for the entire nation. We want answers.”
The nationwide data was received in response to a letter sent to ICE by U.S. Congressman Tony Gonzales back in March. The response letter was received in late September. The letter refers to “challenges of operating within a broken immigration system” and states, “sanctuary policies can end up shielding dangerous criminals…”
Wilcox said the fact that Illinois law enforcement cannot collaborate with ICE on immigration issues exasperates the issue in Illinois, and that efforts by Senate Republicans to repeal the portion of the TRUST act that prohibit law enforcement collaboration with ICE have been rejected by Democrats.
“We are asking for critical information regarding public safety in our districts and in this state,” Wilcox said. “Without question, the TRUST Act, and later expansions under Governor Pritzker, have made it harder for our law enforcement to keep people safe. Without more information it is difficult to know the full extent of the problem in Illinois.”
Wilcox noted that letters have been sent to U.S. Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul seeking the Illinois-specific data. He further noted that reporting requirements are in place that would make the Illinois information available.
“Public safety must be a priority and we cannot afford to leave questions unanswered when it comes to the presence of convicted criminals in our communities,” added Wilcox. “This is about safety, transparency, and accountability. I hope Governor Pritzker, Attorney General Raoul, and legislative Democrats will not back away from transparency on this critical issue. Illinoisans deserve answers.”
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