Six Hispanic Republicans are urging the Trump administration to prioritize deporting migrants facing charges for violent crimes as immigration enforcement officers have ramped up arrests of nonviolent migrants.
In a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting Director Todd Lyons on Wednesday, the members led by Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) — the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Conference in the House GOP — sought information about the status of migrants facing criminal charges who are on ICE’s docket and about the criminal status of those who have already been deported.
“We strongly agree that convicted criminal aliens—smugglers, murderers, and sex offenders—pose an immediate threat to our homeland security, and we are committed to making sure you have the resources to find, prosecute, and deport them as soon as possible. That said, we are also concerned that your limited resources may be stretched to pursue individuals that do not constitute an immediate threat to public safety,” the members wrote in the letter.
“While we do agree that we are a nation of laws—and that all who crossed our borders illegally are subject to those laws—there are levels of priority that must be considered when it comes to immigration enforcement. Every minute that we spend pursuing an individual with a clean record is a minute less that we dedicate to apprehending terrorists or cartel operatives,” the members said.
The letter comes as the administration has ramped up the deportation of migrants not accused of violent offenses as it aims to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations — despite Republicans previously saying the effort would start by targeting violent criminals.
But some Republicans have started raising concerns about that effort, particularly those in districts with many migrants or whose dominant industries in their districts rely on migrant labor — and those who represent competitive districts.
Joining Gonzales on the letter were Reps. Monica de la Cruz (R-Texas), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.).
“We stand by President Trump to ensure our border security is restored. However, in order to truly claim success, we need to give absolute priority to every violent offender and convicted criminal illegal alien present in our nation. Diverting limited resources to other objectives puts our national security at risk,” the members said in the letter.
According to the letter, ICE revealed to Gonzales in September of last year that 600,000 individuals with criminal charges were on its docket, the majority of whom were convicted of crimes like murder, sexual assault and smuggling.
The members asked ICE how many of the 100,000 individuals deported since January were convicted criminals, or had ties to gangs and organized criminal organizations.
Across both Republican and Democratic administrations, ICE has historically prioritized for removal violent offenders as well as those charged with crimes — a reflection of the reality that agents simply don’t have the resources to remove the more than 10 million people without legal status in the country.
Trump has come under fire in recent days for the indiscriminate arrest of migrants during widespread raids.
Border czar Tom Homan also said ICE plans to step up workplace raids.
The administration has begun moving to dismiss pending immigration court cases, then arresting migrants after they exit the courtroom in order to place them in expedited removal proceedings.
Under the Biden administration, ICE agents were directed to prioritize those who had recently crossed the border, those convicted of violent crimes, and those otherwise assessed to be a threat to national security. That administration said those convicted of low-level crimes long ago as well as those in good standing in their community should not be considered priorities.