Democratic lawmakers appeared to dismiss concerns about President Joe Biden's immigration parole policies amid a surge in crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
The policy has resulted in an influx of more than one million migrants into the United States alone since January 2023, but the agency has reportedly been unable to track the status of parolees after they enter the country. Approximately 460,000 migrants entered the country on commercial flights, and an additional 630,000 sought parole status at ports of entry through the CBP One mobile app, data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). reveal.
Border officials have warned of large numbers of migrants as a security risk, including eight men arrested for suspected ties to ISIS and possibly planning terror attacks. according to To CBS News.
Pressed by Fox Business congressional correspondent Hillary Vaughn, many Democratic lawmakers refused to give a clear answer on parole policy.
“Should we release them until we know for sure their intentions and whether they may ultimately kill Americans?” Vaughn asked Representative Maxwell Frost, D-Fla.
“I think it's really important to make sure we know people's intentions, and there's a process for that. Sometimes people miss the mark,” Frost said. (Related article: “Total failure”: Former acting Homeland Security Secretary says “we have no idea” how many terrorists are among millions of “fugitives”)
Democrats deny concerns about immigration parole policy when questioned by Fox News pic.twitter.com/M6Oq97HsJ6
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 26, 2024
“Illegal immigrants commit crimes at a much lower rate than other people,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.
“But would these crimes have been prevented if they had not been paroled and allowed into the country?” Vaughn asked, without response from Jayapal.
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York also reiterated that immigrants commit fewer crimes than citizens.
“Wouldn't this crime be prevented if these people had no right to be here in the first place?” Vaughan asked.
“I said what I wanted to say,” Nadler replied.
The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday designated more than 400 migrants who had entered the United States from Central Asia and elsewhere as “concerns” because they were being transported by a human trafficking group with ties to ISIS. according to To NBC News.
Several illegal immigrants have been charged with the rape and murder of American citizens.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who entered the United States illegally, is accused of killing 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley by damaging her skull with an inanimate object outside the University of Georgia (UGA) campus in February.
Authorities arrested and charged Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, both illegal immigrants from Venezuela, with murder after Houston police discovered 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray's body abandoned in a creek near her home on June 20.
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, is charged with raping and murdering 37-year-old Rachel Morin, a mother of five children.
Christian Giovanni Inga Landi, an Ecuadorian man living in the United States illegally, is accused of tying up two teenage girls with shoelaces in a wooded area and raping one of them in New York City.
