JOHN LOTT: Illegal Immigrants Are Committing Crimes — Here’s The Data
John Lott
President, Crime Prevention Research Center
November 30, 2024
In June, Victor Martinez-Hernandez was charged with the murder of Rachel Morin, a mother of five in Maryland. Police in Oklahoma tracked the accused repeat offender down with a sample of his DNA recovered from a Los Angeles home invasion in which a nine-year-old girl and her mother were assaulted. Police say he came to the United States illegally to escape prosecution for at least one other alleged murder in his native El Salvador in December 2022.
“That should never have been allowed to happen,” said Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, referring to the numerous missed red flags the case presented. His office apprehended Hernandez in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Like the member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua sentenced to life in prison last week for the murder of Laken Riley in Georgia, Hernandez’s case is shining a light on the federal government’s failure to properly vet and keep track of lawless migrants.
These gaps have led to broad claims that illegal immigrants have less involvement with the criminal justice system than native-born Americans. A review of the available data, however, shows that the criminal records of millions of migrants – the ones President-elect Donald Trump vows to prioritize for deportation – remain unknown due to illegal crossings, lax enforcement and lax data collection by federal and “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
https://dailycaller.com/2024/11/30/opinion-illegal-immigrants-are-committing-crimes-heres-the-data-john-lott/
