More than 451,000 criminal noncitizens have been arrested and booked into local Texas jails over the past 14 years, according to an updated report from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
Among them, 322,000 have been confirmed as being in the U.S. illegally, based on available U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data.
Law Enforcement Collaboration and Data Scope
The data spans from June 1, 2011, to Feb. 28, 2025, and includes arrests made by DPS and local law enforcement agencies participating in DHS’ Secure Communities program. This initiative allows DHS to work with state and local officials to take custody of illegal foreign nationals who pose a public safety risk, preventing their release into communities.
The report only covers Texas state offenses and does not include criminal records from other states, federal charges, or crimes committed by legally present foreign nationals.
Crimes and Convictions
Among the 322,000 confirmed illegal foreign nationals, authorities charged them with over 564,000 criminal offenses, including:
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1,043 homicide charges
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73,025 assault charges
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10,096 burglary charges
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65,896 drug charges
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1,371 kidnapping charges
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28,601 theft charges
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44,080 obstructing police charges
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3,214 robbery charges
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7,177 sexual assault charges
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8,189 sexual offense charges
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7,024 weapon charges
These arrests led to 208,000 convictions, including:
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533 for homicide
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26,670 for assault
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5,147 for burglary
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27,093 for drug offenses
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391 for kidnapping
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10,740 for theft
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17,084 for obstructing police
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1,834 for robbery
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3,508 for sexual assault
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3,733 for sexual offenses
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2,263 for weapons charges
Data Limitations and Identification Challenges
The report specifically tracks foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally, but not all arrestees appear in DHS databases at the time of their arrest. Citizenship status is determined through fingerprint matches in DHS records. If an arrestee’s fingerprints are not yet in the system, their immigration status cannot be verified at that moment.
Additionally, individuals who enter the country illegally without detection, referred to as “gotaways,” may not be in DHS databases even after being arrested for a state offense. As a result, those not in the database are not included in the DPS report.
Texas Prison System and Additional Identifications
Beyond the Secure Communities program, DHS also reviews the immigration status of foreign nationals in the Texas prison system. Between 2011 and Feb. 28, 2025, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) provided DPS with records of more than 33,000 illegal foreign nationals identified by DHS while incarcerated. Among them, 11,001 had not been flagged by the Secure Communities program at the time of their arrest.
These individuals were incarcerated for over 11,016 combined criminal offenses, including:
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151 homicide charges
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1,437 assault charges
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600 burglary charges
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1,933 drug charges
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65 kidnapping charges
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544 theft charges
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1,041 obstructing police charges
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423 robbery charges
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946 sexual assault charges
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440 sexual offenses
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278 weapon charges
DPS criminal history data indicates that these offenses led to over 6,000 convictions, including:
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117 for homicide
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836 for assault
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380 for burglary
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1,062 for drug charges
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35 for kidnapping
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290 for theft
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457 for obstructing police
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313 for robbery
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693 for sexual assault
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316 for sexual offenses
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113 for weapons charges
Recent Increases in Arrests
The latest figures mark an increase from over 443,000 criminal noncitizen arrests, including 314,000 confirmed illegal immigrants, as of Sept. 30, 2024.
In 2023 alone, local law enforcement agencies reported nearly 50,000 arrests of noncitizens.
Final Notes on Data Interpretation
DPS emphasizes that arrest and charge data do not necessarily correspond with the total number of illegal noncitizens in prison at a given time. A more comprehensive understanding comes from examining their full criminal history in Texas rather than just the offenses committed during this specific period.
The report was updated using data as of March 1, 2025.
