(The Center Square) – Increased crime in Chicago being committed by Venezuelans primarily in the U.S. illegally is the result of an expanded parole policy implemented by the Biden administration, attorneys general from 20 states warned earlier this year when they sued to try and stop it.
A coalition of attorneys general, led by Texas, is seeking to end a parole program they argue is illegally being used to usher in hundreds of thousands of people illegally into the country, bypassing laws established by Congress. Florida, which joined the coalition, also filed additional lawsuits to stop additional parole programs.
Since January, the number of Venezuelans arrested by Chicago police has increased 2,538% from last year, according to Chicago Police Department data obtained through a public information request by CWB Chicago News.
The arrest numbers are up 11,333% from 2021, the news outlet reported.
As of Nov. 12, 686 Venezuelan nationals were arrested by Chicago police compared to 26 in 2022 and six in 2021.
The report cites examples of “serious crimes,” including one migrant shooting another migrant, a robbery of a Divvy employee, a stabbing over a dispute about bathroom cleanliness, and increased shoplifting incidents reported at Macy’s and Nordstrom Rack stores located on North State.
The increase in shoplifting cases “makes sense,” CWB News said, because “the city has opened a migrant shelter just a few blocks away” from the Macy’s and Nordstrom locations “at the Standard Club, 320 South Plymouth Court. The result? Of the 266 people we found who’ve been arrested for shoplifting at Macy’s this year, at least 50 are of Venezuelan origin.”
More than 21,000 Venezuelans have arrived in Chicago this year, according to data published by CWB News. And while city officials have blamed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the influx, President Joe Biden announced the creation of his new parole program on Jan. 5, specifically including releasing Venezuelans into the country.
The new program allows for an additional 360,000 illegal foreign nationals to be released into the United States a year from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua. It initially included releasing a combined 30,000 people from these countries a month.
Biden’s parole policy is consistent with his administration’s expressed support of the United Nation’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The GCM is part of the United Nation’s Agenda 2030 sustainable development plan and has been actively involved with the migration of people all over the globe.
The influx of foreign nationals from these countries is among the nearly 4 million illegal border crossers in fiscal 2023 and over 10 million since Biden’s been in office.
Shortly after the Biden administration began flying people from the southwest border all over the country, Democratic mayors and governors, including from Chicago and Illinois, respectively, declared emergencies and blamed Abbott.
Additionally, city officials state that 22,300 people have arrived on “Texas buses.”
However, Abbott has bused 19,700 illegal foreign nationals to Chicago since August 2022, according to data from the governor’s office, as of Nov. 17. Others are arriving through a Democratic-run program in El Paso funded by FEMA. El Paso officials have said that Chicago is the top destination of illegal foreign nationals arriving there seeking free transportation north.
The Biden administration also notes that the increased quota of people being released into the U.S. from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua includes family members.
As part of Biden’s policy, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was expanding its Carrier Liaison Program through the expanded parole process “for certain nationals of Venezuela to now include certain nationals of Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua and their qualifying immediate family members, the opportunity to request advance authorization to travel to the U.S. to seek parole.”
The 20- state coalition led by Texas attempting to stop this parole program argue Biden created a new illegal visa program “under the false pretense of preventing aliens from unlawfully crossing the border between the ports of entry.” It allows those being released into the U.S. to be authorized to have work permits and to remain in the U.S. for two years.
Biden’s “illegal visa program,” the lawsuit alleges, “allows aliens in their home countries to obtain the benefit of being able to obtain advance authorization to enter the United States – despite no other basis in law for them doing so.”
The lawsuit, like those filed in Florida, argues Biden’s policies are unconstitutional and violate federal law established by Congress. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody maintains the majority of illegal foreign nationals being released into the U.S. don’t have a legal basis under current asylum law and the parole system doesn’t comply with mandatory detention laws and is illegal.
