Texas accuses, imprisons, and convicts noncitizens who commit crimes, even those who are in the country illegally.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has released a new report that underscores the scope of criminal charges. The report does not claim that foreign nationals in the country illegally commit more crimes than other groups, but rather identifies thousands of crimes that should not have happened and thousands of victims who should not have suffered because the perpetrator should not have been present.
The data, spanning approximately 13 years from June 1, 2011, to September 30, 2024, reflects “the minimum number of crimes associated with criminal illegal noncitizens” who are charged with state charges.
Texas’ participation in the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Communities program, which enables DHS to work with state and local law enforcement to apprehend individuals who pose a threat to public safety, organizes the data into numerous categories.
A Texas law enforcement officer apprehends and books the criminal at the local level, initiating the scheme. The Texas DPS and the FBI receive fingerprints for conducting criminal background and warrant checks. DHS and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement receive biometric data in order to determine immigration and removal status.
The data is reported by category: 1) those known to DHS (their fingerprints are in DHS’s database); 2) those who illegally entered the country and evaded capture, known as gotaways, who were later arrested by local or state law enforcement officers for a state offense; and 3) those who DHS adjudicates in the immigration system and are being held in Texas prisons.
Download PDF: Historical Arrest and Conviction Data for Selected Offenses Associated with Incarcerated Illegal Criminal Noncitizens Texas Department of Public Safety
During the period under consideration, local Texas jails booked more than 443,000 criminal noncitizens previously known to DHS. The vast majority, 314,000, were in the nation illegally.
According to the study, the 314,000 people faced over 546,000 criminal charges. There were arrests for homicide (1,011), assault (70,230), burglary (9,787), drugs (63,886), abduction (1,292), theft (27,520), obstructing police (42,581), robbery (3,123), sexual assault (6,943), sexual offense (7,953), and weapons (6,748).
These charges resulted in almost 200,000 convictions.
During this time period, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice jailed over 32,000 people in the second group. DHS’s Secure Communities program did not recognize 10,738 of them at the time of arrest.
The report charges over 10,000 criminal acts against the 10,738 unlawful foreign nationals detained in TDCJ institutions. Arrests include homicide (134), assault (1,294), burglary (573), drugs (1,809), abduction (57), theft (517), obstructing police (950), robbery (375), sexual assault (834), sexual offense (397), and weapons (244).
DPS records show that these criminal counts have resulted in over 5,000 convictions.
The DPS further adds that the date the criminal noncitizens “were identified as illegal while in prison,” between June 1, 2011, and September 30, 2024, “does not necessarily align with the size of the population of illegal noncitizens identified while in prison.” A more accurate estimate can be obtained by reviewing this population’s full Texas criminal history, not simply offenses occurring during this time period.”
“Because individuals identified as illegally present in the country may have had a Texas criminal history prior to their immigration status being known to law enforcement, DPS has traditionally published criminal history data for a noncitizen’s entire criminal history,” the DPS states.
DPS released historical data on the criminal histories of 314,000 illegal foreign nationals in Texas, revealing that they faced nearly 755,000 criminal charges, in order to provide “a more accurate assessment.”
These arrests include homicide (1,608), assault (94,427), burglary (21,008), drugs (91,676), abduction (1,645), theft (43,113), obstructing police (63,783), robbery (5,367), sexual assault (9,422), sexual offense (13,052), and weapons (11,422).
These charges resulted in almost 316,000 convictions.
Adding together the charges for the 10,738 illegal foreign nationals detained in TDCJ facilities, the total number of criminal offenses in Texas exceeded 48,000.
The Department of Public Safety additionally indicates that “the criminal activity for individuals identified as illegal while in prison is underrepresented for this time period because they may have been incarcerated during the time frame used in this report.”
The data does not include any criminal charges filed in federal or other jurisdictions. It also excludes foreign people who are legitimately present in the United States and charged with state criminal charges.
