Tag: Arrests

In California, Violent Crime Rises While Arrests Fall

Arizona Sun Times Staff
under arrest

New crime statistics reveal that in the state of California, violent crime has risen sharply while arrests have fallen, despite a decrease in violent crime nationwide.

As reported by Just The News, the newly-released FBI statistics show that, from 2021 to 2022, the rate of violent crime in California for every 100,000 people rose from 481.2 to 499.5, despite a nationwide decrease from 387 to 380.7. Meanwhile, arrests declined all over the state, falling dramatically below pre-pandemic levels.

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Border Patrol Agents Report More than 300,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways in December Alone

The Center Square

At least 225,797 people were apprehended entering the U.S. illegally nationwide in December, according to official U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released late Friday.

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ICE Tried to Spin Its ‘Indefensible’ 2021 Report Showing Massive Drop in Deportations, Arrests

Arizona Sun Times Staff
Handcuff Police Arrest

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attempted to spin the agency’s low arrest and deportation numbers in fiscal year 2021 by blaming them on the pandemic, a Trump-era rule and lack of cooperation with foreign countries, according to internal documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

ICE’s communications team acknowledged that the agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report, which featured a massive decline in deportations and arrests, would likely be the subject of criticism, and prepared a response for acting Director Tae Johnson and acting Chief of Staff Jason Houser to downplay the low levels of interior immigration enforcement, according to internal communications obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The report was also delayed, which ICE attributed to the fact that the report was a compilation of what would otherwise be multiple separate reports.

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Rep. Andy Biggs Demands Answers From DHS on New Guidelines That Gut Immigration Enforcement, Calls for Mayorkas’ Removal

Rachel Alexander

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-05-AZ) and Rep. James Comer (R-01-KY) sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers regarding new “Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law” that they assert hamper the ability of ICE agents to enforce immigration laws. They warn that the new guidelines will restrict enforcement even more than the interim guidance which was implemented in January, which caused arrests and removals to plummet by more than 60 percent.

Biggs called to remove Mayorkas in a statement accompanying the letter, “These guidelines are an affront to the rule of law and will only further incentivize illegal immigration. Instead of preventing ICE from enforcing the law, the Biden administration should be empowering them to keep our country safe. Moreover, Secretary Mayorkas should be removed from his position of authority immediately for implementing crisis-creating policies.” 

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Report: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officials Made the Lowest Number of Arrests in at Least a Decade

Arizona Sun Times Staff

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials made the lowest number of arrests from September 2020 through September 2021 in at least a decade, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations agents made around 72,000 arrests in the fiscal year 2021, according to the Post. During the same time frame in 2020, the officials made 104,000 arrests and averaged another 148,000 arrests annually between 2017 and 2019.

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FBI Makes Messaging App for Assassins and Drug Dealers, Arrests 800 Users in Global Sting

Arizona Sun Times Staff
Woman holding iPhone

An international drug sting operation resulted in more than 800 arrests and 32 tons of drugs seized, the FBI and other top law enforcement agencies announced Tuesday.

The sting, titled Operation Trojan Shield, dates back to 2019 when the FBI and Australian Federal Police covertly developed the encrypted device company ANOM to replace two platforms that had been taken down by police, according to European Union law enforcement agency Europol. In search of a new encrypted software to use for communications, criminal gangs flocked to ANOM, which grew rapidly servicing more than 12,000 devices and 300 criminal syndicates across 100 countries.

“Encrypted criminal communications platforms have traditionally been a tool to evade law enforcement and facilitate transnational organized crime,” FBI Criminal Investigative Division Assistant Director Calvin Shivers said in a statement. “The FBI and our international partners continue to push the envelope and develop innovative ways to overcome these challenges and bring criminals to justice.”

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