More than 120 illegal immigrants scheduled for deportation charged with homicide

Brett T. | 5:46 PM on June 15, 2015

As candidate after candidate makes quick, throwaway mentions of immigration in their announcement speeches, it’s worth noting that Townhall editor and author Katie Pavlich has published a must-read column today on the thousands of violent criminal aliens released by the Department of Homeland Security.

121 Illegal Aliens Avoid Deportation, Now Charged With Murder http://t.co/xkZxUSCY5B

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) June 15, 2015

Not 12. That’s 121.

The basis for Pavlich’s column is an inquiry by Senators Chuck Grassley and Jeff Flake into the murder of Arizona convenience store clerk Grant Ronnebeck by illegal alien Apolinar Altamirano. Altamirano’s extensive criminal history should have seen him deported.

In fact, a letter sent to Sen. Grassley by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed some shocking statistics:

Between FY 2010 and FY 2014, there were 121 unique criminal aliens who had an active case at the time of release and were subsequently charged with homicide-related offenses. Of these 121 individuals who were bonded out, 33 were released on a bond set by DOJ EOIR and 24 were released pursuant to the Supreme Court decision in Zadvydas v. Davis [which prohibits immigrants who had been ordered removed from being detained for more than six months].

Grassley and Senator Jeff Sessions have sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson expressing their concern and asking for answers.