In June, the U.S. attorney's office for the district of Arizona charged six individuals who had previously been convicted of homicide in the U.S. with illegally reentering the country.
This statistic -- published in the U.S. attorney's monthly report on immigration and border crimes -- shines a revelatory light on our justice system and our border security.
Each of these six individuals convicted of homicide in question had come to the U.S. from a foreign country. While here, they killed someone. Law enforcement had tracked them down and gathered sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt they had committed homicide. They were brought before a court and either pleaded guilty or were convicted. They were then incarcerated.
But then, they were freed -- and deported from this country.
Then, they illegally reentered the U.S.
At some point, these individuals convicted of homicide were caught here again -- and the U.S. attorney for Arizona charged them with "illegal reentry."
Since January 2020, the U.S. attorney for Arizona has been putting out monthly reports that cite both the number of aliens it charged that month with "illegal reentry" and the subset of those who had previously been convicted in the U.S. of a nonimmigration crime.
They charged 241 aliens with illegal reentry in June, according to this report. Of those 241, 178 "individuals had previously been convicted of non-immigration criminal offenses in the U.S.," the report said.
It also said that 40 "had violent crime convictions," of which, "6 individuals had homicide convictions, 8 individuals had sex offense convictions" and "6 individuals had domestic violence convictions."
In addition, "10 had property crime convictions," "36 had DUI convictions" and "90 had drug crime convictions."
How diligently has our federal government been working to secure our border against illegal aliens like those cited in this report from the U.S. attorney for Arizona?
"108 of those 241 individuals had been deported three or more times," said the report.
In the full 18 months on record (January 2020 through June 2021), the U.S. attorney for Arizona has charged 28 illegal aliens who had previously been convicted of homicide in this country with illegally reentering this country.
Apparently, people convicted of homicide do not respect U.S. immigration laws.
In the last 12 months that President Donald Trump was in office (January 2020 to December 2020), 12 illegal aliens who had previously been convicted of homicide in the U.S. were charged by the U.S. attorney for Arizona with illegally reentering the country. That was an average of one per month.
In January -- the month of the inauguration -- no illegal alien who had previously been convicted of homicide in the U.S. was charged by the U.S. attorney for Arizona with illegally reentering the country.
In the five months that President Joe Biden has been in office (February through June), 16 illegal aliens who had previously been convicted of homicide in the U.S. were charged with illegally reentering the country. That was an average of more than three per month.
The six individuals previously convicted of homicide charged in June in Arizona with having illegally reentered the U.S. were the most in any of the 18 months so far on record.
Whatever the reason may be for the recent increase in the number of individuals previously convicted of homicide being prosecuted in Arizona for illegally reentering the country, the solution is obvious: Secure the border.
This week, Biden released what he calls his "blueprint" for immigration reform. In this document, he claims that in the past six months, his "administration has made considerable progress to build a fair, orderly and humane immigration system."
Is that why the federal government is discovering an increasing number of individuals who were convicted of homicide and previously deported?
Biden noted in his "blueprint" that his budget "redirects resources from a needless border wall to make robust investments in smarter border security measures, like border technology and modernization of land ports of entry, that are proven to be more effective at improving safety and security at the border."
But would a man previously convicted of homicide in this country -- who had been released and deported -- seek to illegally reenter the U.S. through an official port of entry?
Or would he look for a remote spot where -- thanks to Biden -- there will be no border fence?
We know from the reports published by the U.S. attorney for Arizona that illegal aliens who have already been convicted of homicide here are returning here.
But we do not know what Biden will do to stop them.
Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSnews.com.