Arrest Statistics Reporting Act
BILL SUMMARY
The Arrest Statistics Reporting Act does two simple but important things: First, it allows arrest reports already sent to the FBI by state and local governments to include the best known immigration status of the arrestee. Second, it requires the federal government to publish immigration crime statistics in the FBI's annual crime reports.
The Arrest Statistics Reporting Act is supported by NumbersUSA, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Eagle Forum, the National Citizenship & Immigration Council, the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers, and the National Border Patrol Council.
Robert Aderholt (AL-4th), Brian Babin (TX-36th), Lou Barletta (PA-11th), Mike Bishop (MI-8th), Dave Brat (VA-7th), Ken Buck (CO-4th), Buddy Carter (GA-1st), Steve Chabot (OH-1st), Ron DeSantis (FL-6th), Scott DesJarlais (TN-4th), John J. Duncan, Jr. (TN-2nd), Renee Ellmers (NC-2nd), Blake Farenthold (TX-27th), Bill Flores (TX-17th), Randy Forbes (VA-4th), Trent Franks (AZ-8th), Louie Gohmert (TX-1st), Paul Gosar (AZ-4th), Lynn Jenkins (KS-2nd), Sam Johnson (TX-3rd), Steve King (IA-4th), Thomas Massie (KY-4th), Tom McClintock (CA-4th), Pete Olson (TX-22nd), Gary Palmer (AL-6th), Martha Roby (AL-2nd), David Schweikert (AZ-6th), Austin Scott (GA-8th), Pete Sessions (TX-32nd), Lamar Smith (TX-21st), and Lynn Westmoreland (GA-3rd).
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“The question of the alien crime rate is of serious national import. The public has a right to know how this country’s immigration policies are affecting public safety. That question has been difficult to answer, however, given the lack of systematic data on alien crime. H.R. 3151 is a vital first step in eradicating that data gap; such an initiative is long overdue and deserves quick passage.” — Heather Mac Donald, Thomas W. Smith Fellow, Manhattan Institute |
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“If proponents of illegal immigration actually believe the claims that they have made about crime rates, they should welcome this data because it will prove their case.” — John R. Lott, Jr., Ph.D., President, Crime Prevention Research Center |
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“…the immigration status of the accused, or lack thereof, is not routinely captured in the reporting systems. Without that data it makes it harder than it needs be to deport some aliens and makes it more difficult to formulate a sensible immigration policy.” — David North, Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies |
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“…Unfortunately, FBI crime statistics do not adequately report the extent of the problem because the official crime reports transmitted by local law enforcement agencies lack information about the nationality and immigration status of subjects arrested. Americans should not be threatened with crime by people who have no right to be in our country. Congressman Brooks’ bill to improve the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting system is essential if we want to understand the extent of this urgent problem.” — Phyllis Schlafly, President, Eagle Forum |
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“…One of the primary purposes of immigration laws is to protect Americans from the depredations of foreign criminals; that purpose is failing and the public is paying the price. There is no excuse for alien criminals to be allowed to stay in this country. If legislation effective in controlling this problem is to be crafted, there must be some method of collecting data beyond the anecdotal. There is no such method in place now. Congressman Brooks’ bill is a step in the right direction, and NAFBPO finds this an easy endorsement of legislation to make. We urge the public and its elected representatives to push for the passage of this bill.” — Zack Taylor, Chairman, National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers |
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“While some data on criminal activity by illegal aliens is available for crimes handled in the federal courts, for the majority of crimes in the U.S., individuals are arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced in state and local justice systems. Without better reporting on criminal activity by illegal aliens handled at those levels, the public is left with an incomplete picture of the threat criminal aliens pose to public safety and how to best deal with this threat. H.R. 3151 is a step in the right direction in addressing this issue by expanding the FBI’s tracking and reporting on arrests of illegal aliens though enhancements to its Uniform Crime Reporting program.” — Brandon Judd, President, National Border Patrol Council |
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America’s policymakers face an information gap that undermines our ability to make the immigration policy decisions needed to protect American lives from the threat posed by illegal aliens.
What information gap? Crime statistics that reflect criminal conduct by illegal aliens. The horrifying murder of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in San Francisco has once again put crime by illegal aliens in the national spotlight.
But this issue should always be in the spotlight, because it daily affects American citizens across the country, despite pro-amnesty forces’ best efforts to suppress politically inconvenient truth about illegal alien crime in America.
The fact is, America’s crime data for illegal aliens is inadequate. While we have access to federal sentencing data for illegal aliens, illegal alien crime data for cities, counties and states is just not there. For example, while illegal aliens are roughly 3.5% of America’s population, U.S. Sentencing Commission data reflects that, out of 74,911 federal sentencing cases, illegal aliens committed 17% of drug trafficking, 20% of kidnapping/hostage taking, 12% of money laundering, 12% of murders, and a whopping 74% of drug possession felonies! If this federal data is any indicator, illegal aliens are far more likely to commit violent and dangerous crimes than the average American or lawful immigrant!
The absence of state and local law enforcement data is critical because most heinous crimes, such as murder, rape, violent assaults, and the like, are prosecuted at the state level. As of today, the federal government does not publicly report state and local illegal alien crime data, thus undermining our understanding of how bad the illegal alien crime problem is and what we must do to address it.
A report released Monday, July 20, by the Center for Immigration Studies found that, according to Census Bureau data, 2.5 million illegal aliens, at the rate of 400,000 per year, have been added to America’s illegal alien problem since President Obama took office. America’s policy makers need empirical data showing how many Americans are horribly victimized by the millions of illegal aliens this and other administrations have allowed into our country.
While we have daily access to the endless stream of anecdotal gruesome news reports of yet another illegal alien taking yet another American citizen’s life, we need “big picture” data to rebut the liberal left’s mantra that illegal aliens are as clean, innocent, and pure as freshly fallen snow. For example, in my district, which has Redstone Arsenal, one of America’s premier military facilities, more Americans have been killed by illegal aliens than my district has lost in Afghanistan, in Iraq, to the Islamic State, to Al Qaeda, and to the Taliban . . . COMBINED! So, is Alabama’s 5th Congressional District’s experience with illegal aliens an anomaly . . . or is illegal alien crime as bad in the rest of America?
In order to make good policy decisions, America’s policy makers need better data. I’ve introduced a bill to help. My bill, the Arrest Statistics Reporting Act, does two things. First, it requires that arrest reports already sent to the FBI by state and local governments include the best known immigration status of the arrestee. Second, it requires the federal government to publish illegal alien crime data in the FBI’s annual crime reports.
This data will better inform the public and lawmakers about illegal alien crime and empower us to make the decisions needed to protect American lives. Honest immigration debate requires the best crime data. My bill, the Arrest Statistics Reporting Act, will help us obtain it.
Watch Congressman Brooks' complete remarks below:
National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers' Press Release on H.R. 3151.
Letter from the National Border Patrol Council supporting H.R. 3151.
Blog post by Center for Immigration Studies' David North on H.R. 3151, titled "New Bill Would Shed Light on Migrants and Crime".
