White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged a question about the many thousands of illegal immigrants in the U.S. with criminal records, Fox News reported. Jean-Pierre claimed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement numbers were "misrepresented" when asked about it by Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy.
During Monday's White House press briefing, Doocy pressed Jean-Pierre about ICE figures that show "13,000 people who have been convicted of murder across the border illegally and are living among us." Jean-Pierre claimed that Doocy was flat-out wrong.
"That has been debunked on what has been falsely misrepresented, misrepresented here. So we have to call that out," Jean-Pierre claimed.
Doocy asked Jean-Peirre about ICE data making the rounds with GOP lawmakers about criminal records for illegal immigrants who are not currently detained by ICE but slated for deportation. One of those figures includes 13,099 who are convicted of homicide.
When Jean-Pierre said it was simply a "misrepresentation," Doocy pushed back on that claim. "Can you clarify what the misrepresentation is?" Doocy said.
"If we're going to report something, data that's out there, we got to do it in a way that is not confusing the American people and certainly not lying. If you look at the total returns and removal of the past year, that has been higher than every year under the previous administration since 2010," Jean-Pierre claimed, deflecting from the number still in the country.
Some media outlets have attempted to debunk the claims. The Department of Homeland Security softened the blow by noting the number included "individuals who entered the country over the past 40 years or more" and "many who are under the jurisdiction or currently incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement partners."
However, it doesn't change the fact that there are at least 647,000 illegal immigrants in the country who are convicted criminals or who have pending charges. Besides the murderers, there are convicted kidnappers, drug offenders, sex offenders, burglars, and other violent criminals.
While Jean-Pierre quibbles over the figures, the reality on the ground for many communities is that illegal immigration is bringing in more criminal activity. By definition, those who enter the U.S. without proper documentation are criminals, albeit nonviolent.
Still, communities where illegal immigration numbers ballooned, such as in Springfield, Ohio, note the destruction it brings. While many have tried to downplay reports of migrant behavior, the Washington Times reported that this community is suffering.
The population is about 58,000, but another 20,000 primarily Haitian immigrants have flooded in between 2020 to 2025. With this influx came "trash piling up on streets, dangerous driving, homelessness, people squatting on their properties, overstressed health care services, and a host of other issues you would expect from a sudden, unplanned, 34% population increase," the Times said.
Things are even worse in Aurora, Colorado, where Venezuelan gangs have the city under siege. Authorities don't have exact figures on the crime rate, but reports reveal that these gangs have taken over entire apartment complexes and broke down the doors of residents at will.
It's common sense that problems will follow when people enter the U.S. illegally. The fact that Doocy cited a statistic encompassing decades to make that point does nothing to change the underlying truth.
