Editor, Times-Union:
In his email newsletter to constituents dated January 18, 2025, Congressman Rudy Yakym wrote: “As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national non-detained docket and in 2024, over 20,000 illegal aliens were not detained for sexual assault. This is an unacceptable threat to the safety of our citizens and cannot be tolerated.”
These are seriously misleading statements. The implication is that there are many (hundreds of thousands) of noncitizens with criminal histories loose, living freely in the U.S.
I emailed Rep. Yakym’s office on the morning of January 21 to ask for the source of the data cited in the newsletter. Shortly, I received a call from Matthew in Yakym’s office, who said that the data was drawn from a press release by Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee of the House, dated September 27. It’s easy to find.
Research shows that Rep. Green seriously misunderstands ICE’s data, mainly because he does not understand (intentionally or not) the term “non-detained docket” (NDD). Though it is strictly speaking true that there are more than 600,000 noncitizens on the ICE NDD, to simply state this without explanation of the NDD is deeply misleading. That is, there are nowhere near 600,000 noncitizens with criminal histories who are not incarcerated in the U.S. All of the numbers in the paragraph from Rep. Yakym’s newsletter are either misleading or false.
An explanation of the NDD: “ICE’s non-detained docket is a list of every person the United States believes is a removable non-citizen who is physically present in the United States and who is not currently held in ICE detention. So non-detained does not mean not in detention. It means specifically not in ICE detention” (see borderreport.com). The 600,000+ number accumulates 40 years or more of immigrants who arrived without permission and who either were convicted of crimes and then incarcerated in federal, state, or local prisons - but are NOT in ICE detention. They are not loose on the streets of the U.S.; they’re simply no longer in ICE detention. (See also cato.org.)
The same issue relates to the “20,000 illegal aliens were not detained for sexual assault.” No, they’re not in ICE detention; they’re in the criminal system, which is a different matter entirely.
I called Matthew of Rep. Yakym’s office again last Tuesday with this information and asked him to investigate and let me know if Rep. Yakym would issue a correction. He said that he would pass my information on to the “communications team”; I asked that he please let me know what their final determination would be. I have not heard back from Rep. Yakym’s office.
Rep. Yakym’s constituents deserve the truth. If false or misleading information comes from our political leaders, we are all poorer; our entire society suffers. I hope that Rep. Yakym himself issues a correction and is more careful in the future.
Jim Eisenbraun
Warsaw, via email