ICE: 662,000 criminal foreign nationals to be deported are living free nationwide

387,000 criminal noncitizens arrested by ICE between fiscal 2021 and 2023

More than 660,000 criminal foreign nationals identified to be deported by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement are freely living in communities nationwide.

Among them are those convicted or charged with violent crimes, including homicide, sexual assault and kidnapping, according to information released in response to a congressional request.

ICE was requested to provide information about the number of noncitizens on its docket for removal who are convicted or charged with a crime. As of July 21, 2024, “there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket, which includes those detained by ICE, and on the agency’s non-detained docket. Of those, 435,719 are convicted criminals, and 226,847 have pending criminal charges,” ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner said.

This includes criminal foreign nationals convicted of, or charged with, homicide (14,914), sexual assault (20,061), assault (105,146), kidnapping (3,372), and commercialized sexual offenses, including sex trafficking (3,971).

An additional 60,268 are on the list for burglary/larceny/robbery; 126,343 for traffic offenses including driving under the influence (DUIs) and 16,820 for weapons offenses.

ICE’s national docket refers to illegal foreign nationals who were apprehended by Border Patrol agents who then turn them over to ICE. Despite having a confirmed documented criminal history, ICE released them into the United States.

Lechleitner notes that some local jurisdictions “have reduced their cooperation with ICE, to include refusal to honor ICE detainer requests, even for noncitizens who have been convicted of serious felonies and pose an ongoing threat to public safety” due to their so-called “sanctuary city” policies. “However, ‘sanctuary’ policies can end up shielding dangerous criminals, who often victimize those same communities,” he said.

Because of local jurisdictions refusing to cooperate with ICE, the agency lifted detainers for 24,796 known criminals and released them into the U.S., he said. The data is from Oct. 1, 2020, through July 22, 2024.

Among them, state and local law enforcement agencies refused to comply with 23,591 detainer requests; 1,205 detainer requests were lifted “due to insufficient notice to ICE.”

Also during this period, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations issued 2,897 detainers that were declined by state or local law enforcement agencies even after the subject of the detainer request had a subsequent apprehension by ICE ERO, according to the report.

Lechleitner also notes that “most noncitizens who are convicted of homicide are typically not eligible for release from ICE custody under §236(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act” but “ICE officers may use their discretion in making custody determinations and release noncitizens with conditions.” He says these determinations are made on a “case-by-case basis.”

In response, U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-TN, said, “It may be shocking to hear that the Biden-Harris administration is actively releasing tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens into our communities, but their own numbers conclusively prove this to be the case.

“This defies all common sense. Under President Biden and his ‘border czar,’ Vice President Harris, DHS law enforcement has been directed to mass-release illegal aliens whom they know have criminal convictions or are facing charges for serious crimes – and these dangerous, destructive individuals are making their way into every city and state in this country. How many more Americans need to die or be victimized before this administration is forced to abide by the laws they swore to uphold?

“This is madness. It is something no civilized, well-functioning society should tolerate.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the number was “shocking.”

“If accurate, it means that almost 10%” of the criminal illegal foreign nationals released into the country by the Biden-Harris administration “are criminals. It also debunks the narrative that illegal immigrants are less likely to commit crime. We can’t survive four more years of this.”

More than 387,000 criminal noncitizens were arrested by ICE ERO agents in fiscal years 2021 through 2023, The Center Square first reported.

The majority arrested were citizens of Mexico, Nicaragua, Columbia and Venezuela.

The majority of arrests occurred in Dallas and Houston, Texas, according to an ICE online statistical dashboard. The most common arrests are of those convicted of DUIs, drug possession, and assault and criminal (non-civil) traffic offenses like hit-and-run or leaving the scene of an accident, ICE says.

Additionally, a separate data point shows that U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol apprehensions of criminal noncitizens totaled nearly 54,000 since fiscal 2021, according to CBP data as of Sept. 16. The majority were for illegal entry and reentry and DUIs.

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Trump designates fentanyl a ‘weapon of mass destruction’

Published on December 16, 2025

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From The Center Square

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch

Following an alarming rise in fentanyl deaths in recent years, President Donald Trump is taking another step in cracking down on the deadly drug seeping its way onto American streets by designating it a weapon of mass destruction.

The president signed the executive order Monday during an event in the Oval Office, saying the illicit drug “is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic.”

The designation comes on the heels of the administration’s increasing military presence in the Caribbean, targeting narco-terrorists and “successful” meetings with Chinese leaders, who have vowed to crack down on the production of precursors of the drug.

Critics of Trump’s move want to address the fentanyl crisis through a different way. For example, a 2024 bill from attorneys general asking former President Joe Biden to do the same thing expressed concerns about political optics and the language akin to military. Overreach and blurred lines in domestic actions, such as rounding up users.

The order would provide the secretaries of the Department of War and Department of Homeland Security to “update all directives regarding the armed forces’ response to chemical incidents in the homeland to include the threat of illicit fentanyl.”

Trump said the fentanyl drug trade “threatens” national security by fueling “lawlessness” in the Western Hemisphere. This is the area of North America and South America, and the islands near each.

“The production and sale of fentanyl by foreign terrorist organizations and cartels fund these entities’ operations – which include assassinations, terrorist acts, and insurgencies around the world – and allow these entities to erode our domestic security and the well-being of our nation,” the order says in part.

Trump said two cartels are predominantly responsible. The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known also as CJNG, are based in Mexico.

The Drug Enforcement Agency said last December that in 2023, more than 107,000 people died from drug overdoses, with nearly 70% attributed to opioids, like fentanyl.

In late February, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via its National Vital Statistics System predicted a 24% decline in drug overdose deaths for the 12 months ending in September. The finding was based on 87,000 drug overdose deaths from October 2023 to September 2024, down from 114,000 the year prior.

Trump declared opioid overdose a public health emergency in 2017 during his first term.

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Hero bystander disarms shooter in Australian terror attack

Published on December 14, 2025

Todayville

MxM News

Insane footage shows a bystander attacking and disarming one of the terrorists, who appears to have been armed with a long rifle, during today’s shooting attack on an event celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. pic.twitter.com/mJceco22bJ

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) December 14, 2025

The chaos that struck Australia on Sunday night produced one moment of astonishing courage: a Sydney shopkeeper, armed with nothing but instinct and grit, charged a gunman at Bondi Beach and wrestled the rifle out of his hands as terrified families ran for cover. Authorities say the act likely prevented even more deaths in what officials have already called an antisemitic terror attack that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded during a Hanukkah celebration along the water.

The hero has been identified as 43-year-old fruit shop owner Ahmed Al Ahmed, a father of two who happened to be nearby when gunfire erupted at the beachfront event “Hanukkah by the Sea,” which had drawn more than 200 people. Footage captured the moment he marched toward the shooter, grabbed hold of the rifle, and overpowered him in a brief, violent struggle. As the gunman hit the pavement, Al Ahmed momentarily pointed the weapon back at him but didn’t fire, instead placing it against a tree before another attacker opened up from a bridge above. He was hit in the hand and shoulder and is now recovering after emergency surgery.

A relative told Australia’s Channel Seven that Al Ahmed had never handled a gun in his life. “He’s a hero — he’s 100 percent a hero,” the family member said. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns echoed the praise, calling the scene “unbelievable,” adding, “A man walked up to someone who had just fired on the community and single-handedly disarmed him. Many people are alive tonight because of his bravery.”

Police say two shooters stepped out of a vehicle along Campbell Parade around 6:40 p.m. and began firing toward the beach. One gunman was killed, the other is in custody in critical condition. Detectives are also investigating whether a third attacker was involved, and bomb units swept the area after reports that an explosive device may have been planted beneath a pedestrian bridge. The toll is staggering: 12 dead, including one shooter, and at least 29 wounded — among them children and two police officers.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned what he called “a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah,” saying, “What should have been a night of joy and peace has been shattered by this horrifying evil attack.” Emergency crews flooded the beach as hundreds of panicked people sprinted away from the gunfire. Video shows one attacker firing down toward the sand from the bridge behind Bondi Park before being shot himself in a final standoff captured by drone footage. Both gunmen appeared to be carrying ammunition belts, with witnesses estimating up to 50 rounds were fired.

Australian police have cordoned off properties linked to the suspects and continue to canvass Bondi for additional threats. What remains clear is that Sunday’s attack was met with extraordinary acts of self-sacrifice, none more dramatic than a shopkeeper from Sutherland who walked into gunfire to stop further slaughter.