Recently published data found a correlation between the rise of illegal immigration and crime in the United States. 

The data, generated by the Heritage Foundation, has listed cases in almost every single state where crime has been committed by illegal immigrants and the criminal has been arrested since 2021. The organization argued that these criminal migrants were not present due to policies around the country, but because of “intentional policy choices.” 

The states with the highest count of illegal immigrants committing criminal activity are Maryland at nine crimes and Massachusetts at 11. Coincidentally, some of these states’ most populated areas are known to be sanctuary cities or counties, such as Baltimore, Boston, and Montgomery County. 

However, after a two-year-old boy was killed earlier this year, Montgomery County and its neighboring Prince George’s County has been reconsidering being “sanctuary” counties. 

An illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was arrested and charged with “second-degree murder” for “alleged involvement in a shootout in Prince George’s County, Maryland,” Heritage shared. He had received a removal order from the United States, but he ended up staying in the country. 

In March 2023, he was arrested for theft, and while Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tried to “lodge a detainer.”  Montgomery County did not want to honor it, and Trejo-Granados was released. He was arrested again several months later in September for “theft and attempt to obstruct and hindering.” 

This led to ICE trying to “lodge a detainer” once again, and he was released. He has been in custody twice, but sanctuary policies enabled him to remain free in the United States. 

In Plymouth, Massachusetts, a Brazilian national had killed a child under the age of 14. He was caught illegally entering the United States in May 2021 in Arizona, but border patrol “apprehended and processed him” due to the fact he had a potential future immigration hearing. 

He did not report, and Brazil even issued a warrant for him for homicide. 

Closer to home, Georgia college student Lakin Riley made national news after she was brutally murdered while out on a morning run. Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan immigrant who crossed our southern border illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay, has been charged with this heinous crime. 

In addition to murder, criminal migrants are also selling drugs, illegally selling guns, and kidnapping.