Congressman Silvestre Reyes released the following statement today in response to Republicans' continued distortions of border violence:

"Speaker Boehner should focus on controlling the level of violence in his own state before tarnishing the image of border communities that remain among the safest places to live in America.  As his office asserts that Congress cannot consider reforming our broken immigration system until border violence is under control, the fact remains that the six largest cities in Ohio all have higher rates of violence and crime than every major city along the U.S.-Mexico border.  In fact, the Speaker's own district in Dayton, Ohio saw more homicides in 2009 and 2010 than Texas' four largest border cities combined, despite the fact that Dayton's population of 141,500 is only about one-tenth of the size by comparison. According to the most recent City Crime Rankings Survey by CQ Press, Ohio's cities have higher rates of violence and crime in every category, including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft than border communities.

"Tomorrow, President Obama will visit the border region when he speaks in El Paso, the largest border city in Texas and the safest large city in America.  As Republicans continue to distort the facts and use border violence as an excuse to delay immigration reform and disparage the outstanding work of our local, state, and federal law enforcement professionals, I hope the President's visit will help expose Republicans' distorted rhetoric on border violence, and renew the push for much-needed reforms to our immigration system that are long overdue."    

Homicides in Dayton, Ohio and Texas Border Cities

Source: Local Police Departments' Crime Statistics

                          2010 - 2011 City Crime Rankings
                                     CQ Press

Murder Rate (National Rate = 5.0 Murders per 100,000 Population)

Rape Rate (National Rate = 28.7 Rapes per 100,000 Population)

Robbery Rate (National Rate = 133.0 Robberies per 100,000 Population)

Aggravated Assault (National Rate = 262.8 Aggravated Assaults per 100,000 Population)

Burglary (National Rate = 716.3 Burglaries per 100,000 Population)

Motor Vehicle Theft (National Rate = 258.8 Motor Vehicle Thefts per 100,000 Population)

Cities Ranked by Highest Rates of Crime (400 total)