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Oh no! Kamala's Killer Caravan CONFIRMED! Except, not really.

Oh brilliant, the Conspiracy-in-Chief is back at it! Trump, citing his favorite source—absolutely nothing—claims Biden and Harris are throwing a prison-wide pool party at the border. Because why bother with facts when you can just shout "jailbreak!"

Published October 6, 2024 at 5:05am by

Donald Trump, the Master of BS

Statement: Kamala Harris "let in the 13,099 convicted murderers and opposes all efforts to find them and to remove them."

Throughout his never-ending campaign, former President Donald Trump has been spouting off, without a shred of evidence, that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have been letting in "millions of people from jails, from prisons."

He keeps parroting the term "migrant crime," even though violent crime is down in the U.S. and studies show that immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens. But facts, who needs them, right?

Now, in a desperate attempt to back up his claims, Trump is citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement statistics.

"These are certified numbers," Trump proclaimed at a Sept. 29 rally in Erie, Pa., later adding, "Kamala let in the 13,099 convicted murderers and opposes all efforts to find them and to remove them."

Here’s the tea: There are indeed new official numbers about the number of immigrants convicted of crimes in the U.S. They come from a Sept. 25 letter by ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner to U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio. There are 13,099 immigrants convicted of homicide on the agency’s nondetained docket.

But, surprise, surprise, "the data in this letter is being misinterpreted," according to a Department of Homeland Security statement.

Most of the 13,099 people likely didn’t enter the U.S. in the past 3½ years; the data spans 40 years. Many aren’t in immigration detention because they’re serving time in law enforcement custody. Oh, and a Supreme Court ruling, not the Biden-Harris administration, said people can’t be indefinitely detained in immigration detention. So, folks from countries that don’t accept deportation flights must be released. Shocking, right? Not really.

When asked for evidence, Trump’s spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, quipped that everyone who crosses the U.S. border illegally is a "criminal." Because, you know, that’s how logic works in Trumpworld.

How many noncitizens convicted of crimes are not in immigration detention?

ICE’s Lechleitner spilled the beans in his letter to Gonzales on the number of immigrants with criminal convictions not in immigration detention. As of July 21, the docket showed 425,431 noncitizens convicted of crimes, 13,099 of whom had homicide convictions. Other convictions included traffic offenses, assault, and robbery.

But wait, it gets better: The data doesn’t just cover the Biden era but stretches back decades. "The data goes back decades; it includes individuals who entered the country over the past 40 years or more, the vast majority of whose custody determination was made long before this Administration," the Homeland Security statement clarified.

Why are noncitizens convicted of crimes not in immigration detention?

Turns out there are a few good reasons why people convicted of crimes aren’t in immigration detention:

People are serving time in prison: Many are in federal, state, or local law enforcement custody, serving sentences. After their release, they usually go into ICE custody.

People cannot be indefinitely in immigration detention: Immigration law mandates detention for aggravated felonies, but a 2001 Supreme Court ruling prevents indefinite detention.

So, people from countries that refuse U.S. deportations, like Cuba, China, and Vietnam, have to be released into the U.S. because there’s no repatriation agreement.

PolitiFact's ruling

Trump’s claim that Harris "let in the 13,099 convicted murderers" and "opposes all efforts to find them and to remove them" is, unsurprisingly, complete and utter nonsense.

In a letter, ICE confirmed there are 13,099 noncitizens convicted of homicide not in immigration detention. But the data represents people who entered the country over 40 years; there’s no evidence that all 13,099 came in during the Biden-Harris administration.

Many are not in immigration detention because they’re serving sentences. Once they’ve served their time, immigration law generally requires detention of aggravated felons. However, a Supreme Court ruling prohibits indefinite detention, so people from countries that reject deportation must be released.

We rate this claim False.

Our sources

Read more: Why Donald Trump’s claim that Kamala Harris ‘let in’ 13,099 convicted killers is False