More than 1,500 migrants who traveled as part of two caravans from Central America in the past year had U.S. criminal histories, indicating they had been deported in the past, according to government data obtained Thursday by the Washington Examiner.
House Oversight Committee Republicans released information from a February request they had sent the Department of Homeland Security asking for details on any known criminals hiding within the caravans of families arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border largely seeking asylum.
Exactly 660 people, or 8%, of the 8,000-person caravan that traveled to Mexico’s northern border city of Tijuana in November had criminal convictions, according to information obtained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Of those 660, about 260 had been convicted of assault or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Three people were convicted of murder.
A second caravan of 3,300 people that originated in Honduras in April contained 860 individuals with criminal histories, though the document did not state how many had actual convictions.
Of the 860, 20 people were convicted of assault or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; nearly 30 others had been convicted of sexual offenses; two people had been convicted of violence against law enforcement; and one was convicted of attempted murder.
Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Intelligence is monitoring several other caravans moving through southern Mexico. The groups range from 1,000 to 4,000 people.
Committee ranking member Jim Jordan, along with the subcommittee ranking members, asked acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan for additional information Thursday about the individuals who have criminal histories and on the emerging caravans.
Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Jody Hice of Georgia, James Comer of Kentucky, and Texas’s Chip Roy and Michael Cloud also signed the letter.
