In Reality Check articles, Star-Telegram journalists dig deep into questions of facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Send your story ideas to RealityCheck@star-telegram.com.
Sen. Ted Cruz focused on the impact of people illegally crossing the US-Mexico border in a speech at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, arguing that “Americans are being murdered, assaulted, raped and killed every day by illegal immigrants released by Democrats.”
“Teenage boys and girls wearing colored wristbands are being sold into sex slavery,” Cruz continued. “This is evil, this is wrong, and it happens every day.”
He then continued, “Today, as a result of Joe Biden’s presidency, your families are less safe. Your children are less safe. And our country is less safe.”
But experts say people who enter the U.S. illegally are not more likely to commit crimes.
Aaron Reichlin Melnick, policy director for the American Immigration Council, told the Star-Telegram in May that illegal immigrants don’t commit crimes.
“When we look at the data — and this is data from the Texas prison system — it clearly shows that illegal immigrants have crime rates that are lower than U.S.-born citizens, but slightly higher than those who entered through the legal immigration system,” he said at the time. “So what we’re finding is that there’s really no correlation between increased immigration and a spike in crime.”
Some argue that illegal immigrants commit too many crimes, and while that argument has “some merit,” it misses the bigger picture, Reichlin-Melnick said in a previous interview with the Star-Telegram.
“Illegal immigrants have a low crime rate, so the more illegal immigrants you have in an area, the lower the overall crime rate will be, even if there is a small increase in crime,” he said. “They’re not the cause of crime.”
Local law enforcement agencies have been unable to provide any data or documentation to show that crime rates in their communities have increased as a result of people residing in the country illegally.
Senator Cruz, speaking to delegates at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, pointed to several specific examples of crimes he said were committed by people operating illegally in the country.
He was referring to Kate Steinle, who was shot in San Francisco. Her alleged killer was a Mexican national who had been deported five times, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He was acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges in 2017. His conviction as a felon in possession of a gun was later overturned by an appeals court, the paper reported.
Cruz also mentioned Laken Riley, a nursing student who was murdered at the University of Georgia. According to ABC News, the man charged with her murder is a migrant from Venezuela who entered the United States illegally in 2022. Cruz also mentioned Rachel Morin of Maryland, whose brother spoke at Tuesday’s rally. According to CBS News, a man who entered the country illegally from El Salvador is accused of raping and murdering Morin.
According to the New York Times, Cruz was referring to 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray from Houston, whose suspected killer was an illegal Venezuelan immigrant.
“Tonight I speak for Kate, Laken and Rachel,” Crews said. “Tonight I speak for Jocelyn.”