‘Border communities are safer than non-border communities,’ Texas congressman says

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) – A comparability of federal crime knowledge by way of a South Texas congressman discovered Texas border communities are safer than maximum U.S. towns.

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from the border the city of Laredo, this week launched a document evaluating FBI crime knowledge from Fiscal Year 2022 of Texas border cities to different Texas cities, and towns national.

What he discovered was once Texas border towns – particularly the ones from South Texas – had one of the lowest charges of violent crime that yr.

“It shows that non-border community cities have more crime than the border communities,” Cuellar advised Border Report on Wednesday. “It’s for murder, and for violent crime, which includes assault, aggravated assault, rape, and you know, all those type of criminal activity. So the bottom line is border communities are safer than non border communities.”

Data discovered the homicide price within the South Texas border the city of Brownsville to be 2.12 consistent with 100,000 other folks. Other Texas border the city homicide charges consistent with 100,000 citizens have been:

• El Paso: 3.24
• McAllen: 3.44
• Laredo: 4.67
• Rio Grande City: 6.37.

Likewise, Houston had 19 murders consistent with 100,000 other folks and San Antonio had 15.69.

New Orleans however had just about 72 murders consistent with 100,000 – one of the crucial best possible homicide charges of any massive town within the country.

And Cleveland, Ohio had just about 40 murders consistent with 100,000.

The nationwide homicide price was once 6.3 consistent with 100,000 in 2022, consistent with the FBI.

A comparability of violent crime charges confirmed Cleveland crowned the listing with 1,613 violent crimes consistent with 100,000 other folks; New Orleans had 1,444 incidents consistent with 100,000, and Minneapolis had 1,226.

But Texas border cities have been a lot decrease: Brownsville had 432; Laredo 316; El Paso 313; McAllen 195 and Rio Grande City, in Starr County, had 146, Cuellar reported.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program considers violent crimes as homicide and non-negligent manslaughter; rape; theft, and annoyed attack.

The agency released its Fiscal 2022 findings last month, which integrated over 11 million prison offenses reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.

Cuellar mentioned his document purposely in comparison knowledge from Republican-led spaces, like Minneapolis, Cleveland and Louisiana – the place House Speaker Mike Johnson is from – as a result of he mentioned GOP rhetoric in Washington, D.C., and Austin, regularly portrays the border area as bad and chaotic.

“It’s a narrative that one political party has used at the state and at the national level, where they say that the border is violent. They say that immigrants bring in their drugs. And that narrative is false,” Cuellar advised Border Report.

Cuellar is a score member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, and he says that 90 to 95% of gear – like fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin – comes thru U.S. ports of access and maximum regularly by way of Americans.

“About 84% of the people that are caught at the ports, or the border checkpoints are U.S. citizens. So the narrative that ‘it’s dangerous,’ and that ‘the migrants are bringing into drugs,’ is a false statement. But that’s a narrative that they keep playing over and over and you see it in their interviews and you serve and certainly see it in their campaign,” he mentioned.

Cuellar says immigration knowledge is every other factor and he admits “we have immigration crisis at the border.”

In Fiscal Year 2023, there have been 3.2 million border encounters, up nearly 16% from 2.7 million in Fiscal 2022 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported.

Cuellar says he expects Republicans to reference emerging immigration charges at the Southwest border all the way through the 3rd GOP presidential debate Wednesday night time in Miami.

But he mentioned he hopes they don’t deceive citizens into considering crime is top on the border.

Sandra Sanchez will also be reached at [email protected].