Senator Jim Banks of Indiana has formally requested that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel address what he characterizes as significant deficiencies in the nation’s crime reporting systems, deficiencies he believes are masking the true scope of criminal activity involving illegal aliens.
In a letter delivered Tuesday to both Justice Department officials, the Republican senator outlined his concerns about the current state of immigration status reporting by local and state law enforcement agencies. The crux of the matter, according to Banks, lies in the fact that existing systems fail to adequately track the immigration status of arrested individuals, resulting in what may be a substantial undercount of crimes committed by those in the country illegally.
The senator has called for reforms to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, a database used by most law enforcement agencies across the country. Under current protocols, NIBRS includes ethnicity only as an optional data element and does not require agencies to collect information regarding an arrestee’s immigration status or national origin. This gap in data collection, Banks argues, leaves the American public and policymakers without a complete picture of criminal activity.
Banks further noted that while the Department of Justice does compile certain aggregate statistics about the citizenship status of state prison populations, these figures do not distinguish between legal noncitizens and illegal aliens. Additionally, the data generally excludes offenders housed in local jails, who represent approximately one-third of the total inmate population nationwide.
The senator’s request aligns with President Donald Trump’s April executive order titled “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens.” That directive instructed the Justice Department and relevant federal agencies to increase investment in the collection, distribution, and standardization of crime data across jurisdictions.
Banks emphasized a fundamental reality of American law enforcement: the overwhelming majority of criminal activity occurs at the state and local level. Violent crimes, property offenses, and many drug-related violations fall under local jurisdiction rather than federal oversight. Consequently, the responsibility for documenting the citizenship status of offenders rests primarily with state and local authorities, yet these agencies generally do not maintain such records.
While federal institutions including the Bureau of Prisons and the United States Sentencing Commission track the national origin of federal offenders, this represents only a fraction of total criminal activity. State and local authorities, who respond to and document the vast majority of crimes occurring throughout the nation, largely operate without standardized requirements for collecting immigration-related information.
The senator’s letter underscores what he views as a pressing need for comprehensive data that would enable lawmakers and the public to make informed decisions about immigration policy and public safety. Without accurate information about the immigration status of those arrested and convicted of crimes, Banks suggests, the nation operates with an incomplete understanding of a matter that affects communities across the country.
As the Trump administration continues its focus on immigration enforcement and public safety, this call for enhanced data collection represents an effort to establish a more complete factual foundation for policy decisions in the months and years ahead.
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