(The Center Square) – In addition to federal agents arresting and prosecuting illegal border crossers for a range of crimes including sex and drug trafficking, local law enforcement officers in Tennessee arrested thousands for a range of crimes, including for violent assault charges.
In just three months, nearly 3,000 illegal border crossers were arrested, according to a Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference report.
From Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2024, 2,719 illegal foreign nationals were charged or convicted of a criminal offense in 73 Tennessee counties that submitted data, according to the report. The data is incomplete as it doesn’t include data from all 95 counties or for all three months.
Crimes were committed by foreign nationals from 92 countries, according to the report. The majority were illegally in the country from Mexico (892), Guatemala (564), Honduras (332), Venezuela (130), El Salvador (86), Cuba (37), Nicaragua (37), Jamaica (25) and Romania (16).
Of the 3,854 charges listed, 447 were violent offenses, including 11 homicides. Many foreign nationals were arrested on multiple charges.
The greatest number were arrested for driving under the influence (654), driving without a license (549), traffic violations (533), public intoxication, failure to appear before a judge, violating probation or other charges. Of the violent crimes reported, 154 involved domestic assault, 80 aggravated assault.
The greatest number of offenses were reported in the counties of Davidson (796), followed by Knox (242), Sumner (212), Rutherford (189), Maury (153), Hamilton (114), Robertson (98), and Williamson (92).
Twenty-two counties didn’t report data: Bedford, Benton, Bledsoe, Campbell, Cannon, Crockett, Fentress, Franklin, Hardeman, Haywood, Jackson, Lake, Lauderdale, Lewis, Madison, Morgan, Overton, Perry, Pickett, Scott, Unicoi and Union.
State law requires local law enforcement agencies to report “the number of persons not lawfully present in the United States charged or convicted of a criminal offense” in Tennessee during the previous year.The data only covers three months of the last quarter of the year.
Of Tennessee’s 95 counties, 73 submitted monthly reports for at least one of the three reporting months; 71 submitted reports for all three months. Many counties reported zero offenses in some months.
The Tennessee Sheriff’s Association and conference are working on improving reporting, according to the report. The data only matches 70% of offenders with their respective court cases due to limited personally identifiable information collected, it explains.
Last year, the Tennessee legislature passed several bills related to illegal border crime reporting requirements, which were signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee. Lee, the former chair of the Republican Governor’s Association, led 25 Republican governors in support of Texas border security efforts, including sending thousands of National Guard troops to Texas at the height of the border crisis.
The conference report was released after the greatest number of foreign nationals illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration of more than 14 million, including those who evaded capture, The Center Square exclusively reported.
Under the Trump administration, illegal border crossings dropped by over 90% in one month and reached the lowest number in February in recorded U.S. history.
Local law enforcement efforts remain focused on the interior of the U.S., including in Tennessee, where violent Venezuelan prison gang members expanded criminal activity statewide.
