Sandra Tan | October 5, 2024

The hot-button presidential campaign issues of immigration, illegal border crossings and crime aren’t just playing out on the national stage. They’re playing out right here.

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia issued a statement Tuesday about the case of Antonio Prieto, a man charged Aug. 26 with murder after his wife was killed with an axe. Prieto was found with self-inflicted knife wounds and rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Garcia’s statement pointed out that Prieto is “an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.” He used Prieto as an example of the immigration crisis hurting county taxpayers.

“Now, for the indefinite future, he will be a drain on Erie County resources,” Garcia said, and noted he was one of six people in Erie County’s jails who immigration officials want to detain.

“The federal government must do more to address its immigration problem and keep people like Mr. Prieto out of the United States,” Garcia added.

Less than two hours later, U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, the former Erie County Republican Party chairman, issued his own news release requoting Garcia’s statement and further slamming President Biden and Vice President Harris for allowing “violent offenders to pour into our communities unchecked.”

“Western New Yorkers and innocent Americans everywhere are already paying the price for Harris’ failed leadership − how many more lives will be destroyed before she finally takes responsibility and ends this chaos once and for all?” he said.

Mixing together complex issues of legal and illegal immigration and tying immigration issues with high crime and high costs has been a consistent strategy for Republicans trying to gain voter approval. A recent Gallup poll of Americans lists immigration as the top U.S. problem.

Critics argue that the political rhetoric that holds sway with some voters is weaving a false narrative.

“There’s a laser focus right now on any migrant or undocumented person who commits a crime, because that’s the political rhetoric at the moment,” said Dejia James, director of policy advocacy with the Partnership for the Public Good and former Western New York regional organizer for the New York Immigration Coalition. “But it’s such a minute number compared to the, honestly, American citizens that perpetuate just as heinous, if not worse, crimes.”

Immigration research

An overwhelming body of research indicates that immigrants, including immigrants who enter the country illegally, commit violent crimes at a much lower rate than the rest of the American population.

Recent studies focus on statistics from Texas, where the justice system tracks the immigration status of those arrested. That data indicates that people living in the U.S. illegally are less likely to commit felony crimes than both legal immigrants and U.S.-born citizens.

Political arguments that the flood of people illegally crossing the border is leading to a wave of violent crime is unsupported by most academic research. But that does not mean that no one in this group commits crimes.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data indicates that 15,608 people arrested by its agents in the past 12 months had been previously arrested on a criminal charge in the U.S. or elsewhere, the highest total in the past eight years.

Most of the prior charges involved illegal entry into the U.S. and driving under the influence. However, there has been an increase in prior arrests for charges such as homicide, assault, theft and drug possession or drug trafficking over the last four years.

Republicans on a national and local level have used particularly violent cases, as well as evidence of illegal immigration fueling the the opioid drug crisis, to attack Democrats and portray them as ineffective leaders.

Migrants in Erie County jails

Garcia pointed out that Prieto is one of six people in county jails who are being held on detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Nearly 800 people are being held as inmates of the Erie County Holding Center or Correctional Facility in Alden. The six detainees account for less than 1% of the jail population.

The U.S. census estimates the number of foreign-born Erie County residents as 7.4%, though this may undercount the hundreds of migrants and asylum-seekers living here. Roughly 600 of them were bused from New York City to Erie County last year, and others have come to the region on their own.

The busing of asylum-seekers came to an abrupt halt after two people – currently housed in county jails – were charged with felony sex crimes in August 2023. Kindu Jeancy was charged with sex abuse and unlawful imprisonment. Jesus Guzman Bermudez was charged with raping a woman in the presence of a 3-year-old child. Subsequently, Democratic County Executive Mark Poloncarz put an end to the busing program, though it remained a hot issue during his re-election campaign.

Antonio Nunes, who is also on an ICE detainer, has been charged with making a terroristic threat against Mayor Byron Brown and breaking 12 glass windows and a revolving door at City Hall.

Two other ICE detainees held in Erie County jails were arrested on stolen property charges, accused of pickpocketing and shoplifting, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Both men are being held on fugitive warrants.

The sheriff does not typically issue a news release about people accused of crimes who were not the subject of an investigation or arrest by his office.

But he made an exception in his release this past week. He mentioned Prieto by name, saying the man has high medical needs and is a drain on county resources.

He didn’t mention the drain on county resources caused by nearly 800 inmates in Erie County jails who are U.S. citizens and are not on ICE’s radar.

Spokesman Chris Horvatits said neither Garcia, nor any other Sheriff’s Office officials would comment further on the sheriff’s statement.

Horvatits later said that Garcia’s statement should not be construed as a suggestion by Garcia that people living here illegally are more responsible for committing violent crimes.