Report: Nearly 80,000 DACA Recipients Had Criminal Records

A new report reveals that, within the first five years of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program for illegal aliens, 79,000 recipients were released into the United States with criminal records.

As reported by Just The News, the majority of these illegals, who were brought into the country illegally by their parents or other adults, were between the ages of 19 and 22 when they were arrested; the next-highest age groups for illegals with arrest records were between the ages of 23 and 26, and between the ages of 15 and 18. This data was published by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

On Tuesday, Joe Biden declared that he would expand amnesty and other forms of protection against deportation for DACA recipients, including job opportunities. The DACA program was unconstitutionally created through an executive order by Barack Obama in 2012, after his attempt to pass a legislative version of the program, the DREAM Act, failed in Congress.

USCIS reports that DACA applies to any illegals who were brought into the country before the age of 16, and thus can include any illegal who was under the age of 31 as of June 15th, 2012.

Biden’s announcement coincided with the 12-year anniversary of DACA. The program has faced numerous legal challenges from several different states, including Texas. On two separate occasions, a federal judge has ruled that DACA was implemented illegally. The legal battles are expected to eventually go to the Supreme Court for a final ruling.

The USCIS data found that, from June of 2012 to October of 2019, nearly 80,000 illegals with prior arrest records in foreign countries were given DACA status. Of the 888,818 total applicants, 765,166 were approved; of those, 79,398 had arrest records, thus accounting for just over 10% of all applicants. By contrast, a mere 77,833 were denied their DACA application, including 30,132 with arrest records.

A closer look at the data reveals a high number of repeat offenders who were accepted into the program. At least 41 of the accepted illegals had been arrested 10 times or more in their home country, while 963 had been arrested five times, and 15,482 had been arrested twice.

The Department of Homeland Security guidelines state that if a DACA recipient “knowingly misrepresent information, or knowingly fail to disclose facts, in an effort to obtain DACA or work authorization through this process,” then they allegedly “will be subject to criminal prosecution or removal from the United States or both.”