Network evening newscasts barely mention new ICE report on 425,000 criminal migrants free in U.S.

All but one of the major U.S. news networks failed to acknowledge new ICE data revealing that hundreds of thousands illegal immigrants convicted of other crimes are in the U.S.

Sep 28, 2024 - 14:00
Network evening newscasts barely mention new ICE report on 425,000 criminal migrants free in U.S.

"NBC Nightly News" was the only prime time network news program on Friday night to report on bombshell new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data revealing that over 400,000 illegals immigrants convicted of crimes are currently free in the United States.

Both ABC's "World News Tonight," and the "CBS Evening News" failed to mention any of the findings that ICE presented in a letter to Congress this week that was reported by a variety of other outlets on Friday. They simply covered Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to Arizona’s border with Mexico and touted her policy proposals for immigration.

Only NBC News' evening newscast mentioned the letter, though it didn’t cover the entire scope of the findings – only reporting that "more than 13,000 migrants previously convicted of homicide are currently free inside the U.S."

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Fox News Digital reported on Friday that ICE sent a letter to Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and other members of Congress this week, showing that as of July 2024, there are 425,431 convicted criminal migrants – and 222,141 with pending criminal charges – who have crossed the U.S. southern border illegally and who are awaiting removal from the country.

According to the report, none of these criminal migrants are being held in detention, even those who have received their final orders of removal or those undergoing removal procedures.

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Of these 425,431 convicted criminals, 62,231 have been convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 have drug convictions and 13,099 have been convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions.

"NBC Nightly News" briefly pointed out the existence of the letter and the more than 13,000 illegal immigrants convicted of murder still free in the country, though it did not mention the nearly half a million other criminal migrants aren’t currently detained in the U.S.

The other two networks failed to mention the bombshell findings in their prime time nightly news segments on Friday altogether.

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"CBS Evening News" made no mention of the letter but focused on the dueling immigration rhetoric of the Harris and Trump presidential campaigns.

The network noted that Harris has "promoted herself as tough on cross-border crime," and reported that "foot traffic across the entire U.S.-Mexico border is down in recent months" thanks to both Mexico’s immigration crackdowns and the Biden-Harris’ administration’s policies. 

ABC's "World News Tonight" took the same approach to covering the border issue, noting Harris’ trip to Arizona this week and how she is trying to offer his vision of border security against former President Trump’s.

The network reported that asylum restrictions enacted by the Biden-Harris administration in June has led to a "drastic decrease in the encounters across the border." It also noted Harris’ border policy mantra that "we can be a nation of laws and also a nation of immigrants."

Trump slammed Harris’ border policies following the release of ICE’s data, telling supporters at a campaign event in Michigan on Friday, "We're like a dumping ground. Non-citizens, convicted criminals from all over the world are right now at-large in the United States of America."