Doocy Slams Jean-Pierre Over Illegal Migrants Convicted Of Murder

Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy once again put the Biden-Harris administration's spokesperson on the defensive Monday, with a pointed question about the "danger" posed by illegal immigrants in the U.S. who have been convicted of "murder."

As of July 21, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that there are 13,099 undocumented immigrants convicted of homicide currently residing in the U.S., according to a letter sent to Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales on Wednesday. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued that ICE’s data is a "false representation" of reality, as reported by the Daily Caller.

“Thirteen thousand people who’ve been convicted of murder crossed the border illegally and are living among us,” Doocy asked during an exchange with Jean-Pierre. “So how much danger are U.S. communities in right now because of this?”

Jean-Pierre responded by attempting to "correct the record." “First of all, the false representation of the data ICE shared is what we’re seeing: false representation. I got to call that out,” she said. “We got to call that out, and this has been fact-checked by some of your colleagues here, by multiple, multiple, multiple outlets. That has been debunked on what has been falsely misrepresented here, so we have to call that out.”

Jean-Pierre argued that the figure representing undocumented immigrants convicted of these crimes is misleading, emphasizing the importance of not "lying" to the American public.

“If we’re going to report something, and data that’s out there, we got to do it in the way that is not confusing the American people and certainly not lying,” she added. “And so, this has been fact-checked, and so the way that is being falsely represented here is just not okay and I got to be really clear about that.”

According to the letter, 15,811 undocumented immigrants convicted of sexual assault and another 14,301 convicted of burglary are also residing freely in the country. As of July 21, ICE's national docket included over 662,566 non-citizens with criminal histories, including 435,719 convicted criminals and another 226,847 with pending charges.

The agency elaborated on how sanctuary cities complicate efforts to arrest convicted migrants, noting that these cities often ignore detainer requests for criminal aliens.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told NBC News that the data is being misrepresented, as the numbers span four decades. It remains unclear when the first of the 13,000 undocumented migrants convicted of homicide entered the U.S.

This news is particularly troubling for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, as President Joe Biden assigned her the task of addressing the border crisis early in their administration.

Last week, retired San Diego Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke disclosed during a congressional hearing that the Biden-Harris administration instructed him not to disclose arrests of illegal border crossers identified as “Significant Interest Aliens” with ties to terrorism.

Heitke testified before a U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security hearing Wednesday, highlighting how the Biden-Harris administration's "open border policies have undermined our safety and security."

“The only true consequence we have to slow down and discourage people from coming into the United States illegally is sending them back to their country of origin. Throughout the first three-plus years of this administration, I saw a steady decrease in the countries we could send people back to for the first time in my 25 years, and under five different administrations, whether through neglect or on purpose, I saw a large-scale lapse in our ability to return people to their country of origin,” Heitke testified.

“The inability to send people home meant that most people being arrested for illegal entry would either have to be detained or released. The current administration, however, from day one made a point of decreasing the amount of detention space available nationwide. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s funding for detention has steadily been cut, and private detention eliminated,” he added.