The Obama administration released nearly 20,000 illegal immigrants convicted of crimes from custody in 2015, according to new figures published by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau.
The 19,723 illegals freed from custody during the last year had a total of 64,197 convictions between them, according to the data. This included 8,324 violent convictions and 208 homicide convictions.
"While the total number of releases is lower than the past two years, since the number of arrests has declined quite dramatically, the rate of releases is approximately the same—meaning that this is no progress at all, and certainly will be no consolation for the victims of these criminal aliens," Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, wrote in a recent policy brief on the situation.
A large portion of these illegal immigrants were convicted of driving under the influence, according to the data. At least 12,307 were convicted of alcohol involved DUIs, while 345 were brought up on drug DUI convictions.
Another 7,986 were convicted on "dangerous drugs" charges, 1,963 were convicted of burglary, 1,420 for obstructing police, 1,728 for assault, 1,317 on weapons charges, and 614 for sex offenses.
