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With the end of the fiscal year, federal agencies have begun publishing their annual reports, including reports on the number of aliens in federalBureau of Prisons (BOP) custody in FY 2019, and final workload totals from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for FY 2020. One theme runs through each drugs and the ties between immigration and the drug trade.

First, BOP, which is a component of the Department of Justice (DOJ). In accordance with Executive Order13768, "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States", DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are required to provide reports on the number of aliens in the custody of BOP, the U.S. Marshals Service, and in state prisons and local detention throughout the United States.

The resulting report is captioned "Alien Incarceration Report, Fiscal Year 2019", and it is broken down into quarterly totals. With respect to non-federal prisoners and detainees, the report notes: "The lack of comprehensive data on this topic is a noteworthy limitation of this report because state and local facilities account for approximately 90 percent of the total U.S. incarcerated population."

This coincides with a statement that I often make: No one really knows how many aliens let alone illegal aliens have committed crimes, because there is a dearth of data on the immigration status of criminal aliens. But all criminal aliens have committed crimes, by definition, and,in general, re-offend.

Based strictly on the BOP population, however, the statistics are staggering. Looking just at the fourth-quarter data, at the end of that quarter, 27,494 known or suspected aliens were in BOP custody. By way of comparison, as of October 15, 2020, there were a total of 125,905 inmates in BOP custody and an additional 14,013 federal inmates in privately managed facilities, as well as 15,115 federal inmates in other types of facilities (mostly on home confinement and in residential reentry centers, i.e."halfway houses").

Of the number of known or suspected aliens in BOP custody, 72 percent were confirmed to have no immigration status, including 61.7 percent who had been ordered removed, and 10.2 percent who were in removal proceedings. Three percent were here legally and in removal proceedings, and 2.8 percent had been granted relief or protection.

Of the known or suspected aliens in BOP custody at the end of the fourth quarter of FY 2019 with criminal convictions (a small number were in pre-trial detention), more than half (13,727) had committed drug trafficking or other drug-related offenses. Another 5.1 percent had committed fraud and 4 percent committed weapons offenses. Racketeering and continuing criminal enterprise offenses (including murder for hire) were the main offenses committed by an additional 3.7 percent. Sex offenders made up an additional 2 percent.

Just 31 percent were in for immigration-related offenses, such as alien smuggling or illegal reentry after deportation. It is important to note that this would likely not include many (if any) aliens who had been arrested for illegal entry as a first offense under section 275 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a misdemeanor for which aliens are usually given time served (meaning that they would never come into BOP custody).

Given that most crimes are prosecuted at the state and local levels, the fact that these individuals were serving federal time means that their offenses were particularly serious. This is especially true of the known or suspected aliens with drug convictions. You don't end up in U.S. Penitentiary Allenwood because you got caught on a street corner in Altoona with a nickel bag of dope.

Which brings me to the CBP statistics. In FY 2020, Border Patrol seized 809 pounds of the incredibly lethal narcotic fentanyl, a 258 percent increase over FY 2019 (when agents seized 226 pounds of the drug). As CDC has reported: "Deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl are on the rise." Border Patrol is doing its part to reverse this trend.

Methamphetamine seizures by Border Patrol were also up year-to-year by 44 percent (20,795 pounds as compared to 14,434 pounds), as were cocaine seizures, by 31 percent (15,360 pounds vs. 11,682 pounds).

As I explained in a September post, these increases in drug seizures are likely (at least in part) a function of the fact that, with fewer aliens entering illegally in FY 2020 (400,651 alien apprehensions along the Southwest border, compared to 851,508 in FY 2019), Border Patrol agents were better able to nab smugglers.

Such seizures likely also explain why such a large number of known or suspected aliens in BOP custody have drug convictions. Get caught dealing fentanyl on the streets of Baltimore (which had 692 opioid-related deaths in 2017), you will go to the city jail or state prison (assuming your case doesn't get dropped). Get caught hauling meth over the Southwest border, and you are looking at federal time (and likely to get it).

None of this is to say that aliens are more likely to use or sell drugs within the United States than the general population as a whole. But, of the aliens who end up in federal prison, most have committed some pretty serious drug offenses. And the border is at least one conduit by which those drugs reach the streets of this country to begin with.

Remember for as good as CBP generally and the Border Patrol, in particular, are at catching drug smugglers, they can't stop them all. More and better barriers along the border would help, but that is an argument for another day.

Read more:
End-of-Year Totals on BOP Criminal Aliens, Border Patrol Drug Seizures - Immigration Blog

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) The federal government has built 109 miles of new or replacement border wall in the El Paso Sector the past couple of years and more is coming.

Dozens of miles of 30-foot steel bollard barrier are rising on empty expanse between Santa Teresa and Columbus, New Mexico and construction is picking up in El Pasos Lower Valley.

Were hoping that by the end of January were done with seven projects. Thatll give us 150 miles of solid, 30-foot steel bollard wall to replace old mesh. Now, thats a barrier because we still have places in Deming (New Mexico) with chain-link, sticks with barbed wire and some vehicle (obstacle), said Border Patrol Sector Chief Gloria I. Chavez.

The work is part of the Trump administrations goal of building or replacing 450 miles of border wall by the end of the year. The construction has taken on added urgency and controversy as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage along the border and the Nov. 3 presidential election draws near.

As he did in Tucson, Arizona last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Mark A. Morgan came to El Paso on Wednesday to pitch the importance of better walls and a firm immigration policy in the era of COVID-19.

In an exclusive interview with Border Report, Morgan said it would be a mistake for any future administration to give up on wall construction or try to reverse Trump administration programs like the Migrant Protection Protocols that stopped the migrant surge from Central America last year and have discouraged further mass migration.

By February of this year, we had reduced illegal immigration by 75%. We went from releasing 230,000 individuals in the U.S. which we never heard from again in Fiscal Year 2019 to (a few thousands) by 2020. We all but ended catch and release. Things changed because of the tools this president has provided us, Morgan said.

He added that if those things stop, the 140,000 unauthorized migrants who were caught or surrendered themselves at the border in May 2019 would be nothing compared to the number of people who will come.

Whats going to come next is going to make that look like childs play. You can take that to the bank, Morgan said.

Fernando Garcia, executive director of El Pasos Border Network for Human Rights, said Morgans comments this close to the election show the Trump administration is still trying to score political points with conservative voters through immigration fearmongering.

Trump thinks he can continue to use migrants to overcome his political troubles, Garcia said. A new administration has to reverse those racist and erroneous policies. Migration has many root causes and is part of the history of this country. Immigration should be treated as humane and necessary, not as a criminal act. That generates terror for political purposes.

Morgan also talked about the growing number of stash houses along the border where smugglers pack migrants into crowded, unsanitary quarters with no regard for the spread of the coronavirus. In El Paso, at least seven such houses have been raided recently.

Even before, stash houses were unsanitary (and) crowded, but now you throw in the pandemic, no social distancing, no (personal protective equipment) no hand sanitizer and thats an active Petri dish, he said.

The acting CBP commissioner railed against transnational criminal organizations that for decades have made money on the backs of people looking for jobs or a better life in the United States. But he also chastised the migrants whore risking catching or spreading COVID-19 making the trip now.

I used to go hard after the cartels, those disgusting, despicable organizations [] Im still going after them, but the immigrants themselves who are trying to enter in the middle of a global pandemic, they have a responsibility, too, he said. They are knowingly and willingly allowing themselves into stash houses and tractor-trailers [] They have a responsibility to listen to the medical experts across the world and not try to illegally enter this country.

Morgan toured the border wall along a stretch in El Paso that shows the weathered 18-foot mesh barrier and towering new 30-foot steel bollard.

The first can still be climbed over or cut by migrants or their guides, while the latter poses a formidable barrier.

This makes it impossible for the average young adult male to shimmy up like they used to. Unfortunately, were still having people that are trying and falling and injuring themselves, he said. Were trying to get the message across to [] first of all, you shouldnt come to this country illegally and you sure as heck shouldnt try to climb over a 30-foot steel wall with an anti-climb plate. Youre going to get seriously injured.

Standing a few yards from the Rio Grande, Morgan reflected on the extreme drug violence going on across the border. Juarez, Mexico this year has seen some 1,400 homicides. Most of them are drug related, according to authorities there, and many of the victims have been tortured, mutilated, beheaded or burned.

Its something that should resonate with the American people. Why do you think theres so much violence on the Mexican side? Why are the cartels fighting each other? Theyre fighting over the drug smuggling and human trafficking corridors leading into the United States, he said.

That violence rarely spills into American border cities like El Paso, Laredo and Brownsville, Texas. Law enforcement and drug experts say thats because of U.S. vigilance and Mexican criminals fear of an American justice system that cannot be coerced.

Morgan said the border wall is adding a layer of protection against criminals just across the river.

Its not just a wall, its a wall system. Its got integrated lighting, technology and access roads. Everything that the experts, the Border Patrol agents out in the front lines, those who risk their lives every day, need, Morgan said.

El Paso has had border walls, fences or barriers for decades, and no demonstrators have been spotted around construction areas.

But in Arizona, the debate over wall construction on sacred Indigenous grounds and wildlife environs has led to confrontation and arrests.

On Wednesday, Morgan said he wasnt worried about the protests.

Weve had different types of barriers for decades. Were just building them better and faster, he said. If somebody wants to protest, knock yourself out. I totally support their First Amendment right to protest, you just have to do it legally. If youre going to go throw yourself in the middle of the wall to stop construction, thats not legal. Were going to arrest you and take you away, and construction is going to keep going on.

Visit theBorderReport.com homepagefor the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.

Originally posted here:
CBP acting head stresses need for border wall during tour of construction site in El Paso - WANE

Andrew Forrester, Michelangelo Landgrave, and Ipublished anew working paper on illegal immigration and crime in Texas. Our paper is slated to appear as achapter in avolume published by Oxford University Press in 2021. Like our other research on illegal immigration and crime in Texas, this working paper uses data collected by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) that records and keeps the immigration statuses of those arrested and convicted of crimes in Texas. As far as weve been able to tell, and weve filed more than 50 state FOIA requests to confirm, Texas is the only state that records and keeps the immigration statuses of those entering the criminal justice system. Texas gathers this information because its runs arrestee biometric information through Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases that identify illegal immigrants. Unlike other states, Texas DPS keeps the results of these DHS checks that then allows amore direct look at immigrant criminality by immigration status.

The results aresimilar to our other work on illegal immigration and crime in Texas. In 2018, the illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 782 per 100,000 illegal immigrants, 535 per 100,000 legal immigrants, and 1,422 per 100,000 nativeborn Americans. The illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 45 percent below that of nativeborn Americans in Texas. The general pattern of nativeborn Americans having the highest criminal conviction rates followed by illegal immigrants and then with legal immigrants having the lowestholds for all of other specific types of crimes such as violent crimes, property crimes, homicide, and sex crimes.

Since Texas is the only state that records and keeps the immigration statuses of those arrested, we cant make adirect applestoapples comparison between Texas and other states (every state should record and keep this information so we can answer this important question). It could be that illegal immigrants in Texas are the most lawabiding illegal immigrant population in the country or the least lawabiding. Until other states start recording and keeping the data, wewont know for sure. But there is much suggestive evidence that the illegal immigrant criminal convictionrate in Texas is comparable to their crime rates across the country.

For instance, the ratio of the nationwide estimated illegal immigrant incarceration rate to the native and legal immigrant incarceration rates is very similar to the same ratios for the criminal conviction rate in Texas. The similarity is evidence that the pattern in Texas holds nationwide, at least to the extent that convictions and incarcerations are correlated. The only way that illegal immigrants could have ahigher incarceration rate is if there is something seriously wrong with our method of estimating their total population in the United States and the actual number is much smalleror we are seriously undercounting illegal immigrants who are incarcerated. Neither is very likely, but its important to mention the possibility.

We go abit further in this working paperby looking at how local variation in the illegal immigrant population is correlated withcrimerates on the country level in Texas for the years 20122018. The relationship between changes in the illegal immigrant population and crime is known as an elasticity. The elasticity between two variables estimates how one variable, the illegal immigrant population here, affects another variable like the number of illegal immigrant convictions or the total crime rate. We control for the number of law enforcement officers per capita. We basically find no relationship. The only statistically significant relationship worth reporting is anegative association between total violent crime convictions and the illegal immigrant share with apoint estimate of -0.104 that is significant at the 5percent level. This exception suggests that a10 percent increase in the illegal immigrants share of the population is associated with a1 percent decline in violent crime convictions in our sample of Texas counties.

Our working paper isnt the only new research on illegal immigration and crime. Christian Gunadi, an economist who recently graduated from the University of California Riverside, examined how the DACA program affected crime rates. Gunadi tested the theory, based on Gary Beckers crime research, that issuing work permits to young illegal immigrants increasesthe opportunity cost of committing crime by making it easier for them to be legally employed. Gunadi found, when he analyzed the individuallevel incarceration data, that there was no evidence that DACA statistically significantly affected the incarceration rate of young illegal immigrants. Gunadi also looked at crime on the state level and found that the implementation of DACA is associated with areduction in property crime rates such that an additional DACA application approved per 1,000 population is associated with a1.6 percent decline in the overall property crime rate. That second finding is consistent with the Beckerian crime model.

Other recent research into immigration and crime similarly find no relationship between immigration and crime or aslightly negative relationship, but their methods are not as robust so Idont place as much weight on them. However, arecent working paper written by Conor Norris and published at the Center for Growth and Opportunity used differenceindifferences and the synthetic control method to see how the passage of SB-1070in Arizona in 2010, which was an immigration enforcement law, affected crime there relative to other states. It found that violent crime in Arizona increased by about 20 percent under both methods.

Norris paper is interesting and worth developing further. For instance, most of the research on the economics of crime focuses on how higher opportunity costs lowers crime rates. In that way, increasing legal employment opportunities can lower crime while making it more difficult for illegal immigrants to work can push some of them toward committing crimes because theyd have less to lose. In 2007, the Arizona state legislature passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) that mandated EVerify on January 1, 2008. EVerify is intended to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants. Forrester and Iwrote ashort blog post showing that the passage of LAWA may have increased the monthly flow of noncitizens into Arizona state prisons, but the effect was shortlived as many illegal immigrants either left the state or figured out how to get around EVerify.

The above new research and the vast quantity of papers on how immigration doesnt increase crime and frequently lowers it leads to an interesting question: Why do so many people think that immigration increases crime? The Christian Science Monitor had an interview segment recently where they asked criminologists why so many Americans think immigrants increase crime even though the weight of evidence says that they are less likely to commit crimes than nativeborn Americans. According to arecent Gallup poll, 42 percent of respondents thought that immigrants increase crime, 7percent thought that immigrants decrease crime, and 50 percent said immigrants didnt affect crime.

Much of the effect could be that people who dont like immigration could just ascribe all types of negative behavior to them in order to justify their dislike. This probably explains alot of it, but it would be adisservice to stop there. We must examine the possible other reasons. Another potential reasonis that many people think that immigrant criminals could have been prevented from coming in the first place, so theres more of afocus on their crimes (availability bias) because many people think that they are more preventable than crimes committed by nativeborn Americans. In that way, many people could think that allowing any crime by immigrants is achoice and that crime could go away at the stroke of apen. Thats not how the world works and that doesnt explain why so many people think that crime rates go up with immigration, but if that form of control bias is combined with aconflation between the number of crimes and the crime rate then the mistake is understandable if not based on an accurate understanding of the variables.

Another reason could be that nativeborn Americans who have the same ethnicity asrecent immigrants might have amuch higher incarceration rate, so the respondents to these surveys lump them in together and conclude that immigrants boost the crime rate. Among nativeborn Americans, Hispanics do have ahigher incarceration rate but Asians have amuch lower rate. This is further complicated by the fact that Puerto Ricans, who are not immigrants, likely have the highest incarceration rate of any Hispanic subgroup in the United States (see Table 1) and it would be quite silly for someone to blame immigrants for the higher Puerto Rican incarceration rate.

There is more and more evidence that immigrants, regardless of legal status, are less likely to commit crimes than nativeborn Americans. However, asubstantial number of Americans still think that immigration increases crime. As more evidence builds over time, we can only hope than Americans respond by updating their opinions so that they fit the facts.

Read the rest here:
New Research on Illegal Immigration and Crime - Cato Institute

Washington, October 15

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has vowed to provide citizenship to 11 million illegal immigrants if voted to power in the November 3 presidential elections.

Biden identified this as one of his priorities in addition to beating the virus, rebuilding the economy and figuring out how to restore American leadership around the world.

Responding to a question at a virtual fundraiser on Wednesday, Biden said there is a need to deal with what's going on at the border.

We're going to have to deal with the immigration crisis we have. I'm going to send the House and Senate an immigration bill that's going to provide access to citizenship to 11 million people, he said.

According to the campaign, there were 37 attendees and the event was hosted by Jane Hartley, former US Ambassador to France and Monaco and current Chairman, Sesame Workshop; Blair Effron, Founder & Partner, Centerview Partners; Indian American Deven Parekh, Managing Director, Insight Partners and Roger Altman, Founder & Senior Chairman, Evercore.

When asked how he would envision his first 30 days in office in terms of both domestic and foreign policy, Biden said: A lot more can go wrong between now and January 21, and I'm not being facetious. Four more years, we're not going to have the country we have now.

If the American people elect me, we're going to have an enormous task in repairing the damage he's done, he added of Trump.

We have to be beating the virus, rebuilding the economy and figuring out how to restore American leadership around the world, Biden said.

Biden said he would move to quickly implement his plan to deal with the pandemic and reopen safely.

The Democratic presidential candidate also made a note of the challenges facing the so-called Z Generation, the very young.

They've really gotten screwed since they got out of school, Biden said.

The jobs aren't there, he said.

But guess what? They're the most open, progressive and the brightest generation we've ever had, he added.

And we have to embrace them. They know the change we need to make and how we need to be much more, much more integrated in everything we do, he said.

Biden was critical of the policies of President Donald Trump.

The rest of the world is wondering, what in the Lord's name is happening? What we're living through today is not normal, he said.

He reiterated his attacks on Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, noting more than 215,000 Americans have died and criticised the president for backing away from stimulus talks.

He didn't walk away. He never was part of em, Biden said.

Three days later, after he said he was walking away, he said he's coming back One day, he's tweeting that the relief package is too big next day it's too small. The longer he's president, the more reckless he gets, he added.

While talking more broadly about the stakes of the election, Biden noted he just got off the phone with Warren Buffett.

"We have to refuse to postpone what America has to do, the work we have to do. There's nothing beyond our capacity for God's sake, Biden said.

Just got off the phone with Warren Buffett and talking about how we're in a position, unlike we were 50, 70, 80 years ago, to lead the whole damn world in a way that no one else can. There's no limit to America's future. The only thing that's going to tear America apart is America itself," he said. PTI

See the original post:
Will provide citizenship to 11 million illegal immigrants if voted to power, says Biden - The Tribune India

As tragic as the shooting and death of Kate Steinle was, it was one of the 13,455 murders that year in the United States and it does not tell us how many of those victims were murdered by illegal immigrants. The most important measure that matters when judging the crime rates of illegal immigrants is how likely they are to be criminals compared to other subpopulations. If illegal immigrants are more likely to be criminals then their presence in the United States would raise crime rates, supporting Trumps assertions. But if illegal immigrants are less likely to commit crime then they would lower the nationwide crime rate.

Politically, this debate spills over to evaluating whether domestic immigration enforcement policies reduce crime. Illegal immigrant crime is also central to the debate over sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to turn over many illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the effects of aborder wall, and whether Border Patrol requires more resources to counter crime along the border. Answering whether illegal immigrants are particularly crime prone is essential to addressing these concerns and setting efficient anticrime policies.

See the rest here:
Illegal Immigration and Crime in Texas - Cato Institute