The Obama administration in 2013 released nearly 68,000 undocumented immigrants who had criminal records – many of them in New York and New Jersey, according to a new review of immigration data.
The shocking numbers came from a report released Monday by the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative think tank that studies immigration patterns.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement data showed that New York’s ICE office released 5,391 – about 71 percent of the 7,571 criminal undocumented immigrants it encountered, a rate second only to San Antonio, which released 79 percent.
The Newark office came in fourth, releasing 2,149 about 60 percent of 3,581, right behind third-place Washington DC, which released 64 percent.
Nationally, the 67,879 criminals released represented about 35 percent of all undocumented immigrants with convictions ICE encountered, according to the report, titled “Catch and Release.”
Since June 2011, when the first of the administration’s “prosecutorial discretion” policies went into effect, ICE arrests have declined by 40 percent, the report said.
“These figures suggest that despite claims of a focus on public safety, the administration’s prosecutorial discretion criteria are allowing factors such as family relationships, political considerations, or attention from advocacy groups to trump criminal convictions as a factor leading to deportation,” said the report, written by CIS director of policy studies Jessica Vaughan.
An ICE spokeswoman defended the feds efforts to get undocumented criminals out of the country.
“ICE is focused on the removal of criminal aliens. In Fiscal Year 2013 the agency removed 216,000 convicted criminals. The percentage of criminals removed continues to rise,” said ICE rep Dani Bennett.
“Nearly 60 percent of ICE’s total removals had been previously convicted of a criminal offense, and that number rises to 82 percent for individuals removed from the interior of the US. The removal of criminal individuals is and will remain ICE’s highest priority.”