Former President Donald Trump campaign senior adviser Corey Lewandowski criticized CNN anchor Jim Acosta on Wednesday for neglecting to acknowledge the thousands of illegal immigrants with homicide convictions currently in the United States.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded a total of 13,099 non-detained illegal immigrants convicted of homicide as of July 21, according to a Wednesday letter. Lewandowski, on “CNN Newsroom with Jim Acosta,” repeatedly pressed Acosta on the issue, but the CNN anchor rebuffed his efforts and dismissed the statistic as inaccurate.
WATCH:
“Corey, can you say that Haitian migrants are not eating pets in Springfield?” Acosta asked. “Can you say that?”
“You know what I can say, Jim? I can say that 13,099 murders were let into this country, 16,000 rapists, 425,000 people in the last four years have been let into this country by [Vice President] Kamala Harris and [President] Joe Biden’s own Customs and Border Protection that are running around this country, Jim, committing crimes,” Lewandowski answered.
Acosta ignored the statistics, instead taking issue with Lewandowski’s pronunciation of Harris’ first name.
“Jim, we know that they’re committing crimes against Americans. Why can’t these individuals talk about the individuals who have been killed by illegal immigrants? 13,099 murderers have been let into this country by this administration’s own accounting,” Lewandowski said. “And you guys don’t want to talk about it … Jim, admit that 13,099 murderers have been let into this country. That’s four murders for every single county in America. You don’t think that that’s a problem?”
Acosta stated “border crossings are down and crime is down,” but Lewandowski disagreed about crime.
FBI statistics released in September found a 3% decline in violent crime nationally, according to CNN, but some experts have noted discrepancies between local crime statistics and those published by the Bureau. The FBI data found robbery decreased 0.3% and aggravated assault fell 2.8%, but the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ crime data found rape, robbery and aggravated assault increased by 4.1% in 2023, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center.
The CNN anchor asserted Lewandowski “won’t admit the truth” about Trump losing the 2020 election or about Haitian migrants eating pets.
“Jim, will you admit that 13,000 murderers have come into the country?” Lewandowski asked.
“The 13,000 number is false by the way,” Acosta claimed, which Lewandowski disputed, asking for the CNN anchor’s reasoning.
“That is over several administrations, Corey, that number is over several administrations,” Acosta responded. Lewandowski criticized Acosta for saying it’s inaccurate that there are 13,000 illegal immigrant murderers in the country.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told NBC News that the data is being misrepresented as ICE’s statistics go back four decades. It is not currently apparent when the first of the 13,000 illegal migrants convicted of homicide entered the U.S.
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