THE REALITY OF MIGRANT CRIME. There’s been a political debate lately about crimes committed by migrants who entered the United States illegally. Actually, there’s not much to debate about their first unlawful act, entering the U.S. without authorization, but much disagreement about how many illegal border crossers commit crimes after that. 

In recent weeks, Republicans have publicized the murder of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student who police say was allegedly abducted and killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan migrant who entered the U.S. illegally in September 2022, only to be quickly released into the country. Ibarra was one of millions of illegal crossers who rushed into the U.S. after the implementation of virtually open-border policies by President Joe Biden. In response to Republicans highlighting the murder, some Democrats argued that the “immigrant crime narrative is racist,” in the words of Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA).