According to a law enforcement information-sharing database, more than 451,000 “criminal noncitizens” were arrested and booked into Texas jails between June 1, 2011, and February 28, 2025.
A news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) states that over 322,000 of the total “criminal noncitizen” arrests during that period involved people who were in the country illegally.
A report compiling nearly 14 years of data shows the state’s ongoing efforts to fight illegal immigration through the collaboration of local law enforcement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The data was collected as part of the DHS Secure Communities program, which allows local and state law enforcement officials to share information and detain foreign nationals who pose a public safety risk, potentially preventing their release back into communities across the country.
“Between June 1, 2011, and February 28, 2025, these 322,000 illegal noncitizens were charged with more than 564,000 criminal offenses which included arrests for 1,043 homicide charges; 73,025 assault charges; 10,096 burglary charges; 65,896 drug charges; 1,371 kidnapping charges; 28,601 theft charges; 44,080 obstructing police charges; 3,214 robbery charges; 7,177 sexual assault charges; 8,189 sexual offense charges; and 7,024 weapon charges,” the news release states.
“DPS criminal history records reflect those criminal charges have thus far resulted in over 208,000 convictions including 533 homicide convictions; 26,670 assault convictions; 5,147 burglary convictions; 27,093 drug convictions; 391 kidnapping convictions; 10,740 theft convictions; 17,084 obstructing police convictions; 1,834 robbery convictions; 3,508 sexual assault convictions; 3,733 sexual offense convictions; and 2,263 weapon convictions,” per the news release.
The data is limited to Texas state offenses and does not include criminal activity in other states or federal charges. The figures do not include people whose fingerprints were not in the database when they were arrested by state or local law enforcement and who were later identified as being in the country illegally.
Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders have worked tirelessly toward attaining stricter immigration enforcement measures for Texas.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Abbott complimented the DPS and the Texas National Guard earlier this year for their efforts in Operation Lone Star, the governor’s anti-illegal immigration plan that has played a key part in combating drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Launched in 2021, Operation Lone Star was designed to address gaps in border security that federal agencies have not addressed.
Abbott said in a news release in January 2025 that the operation has “led to over 530,600 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 50,000 criminal arrests, with more than 43,000 felony charges.” The operation has also allegedly seized over 622 million lethal doses of fentanyl, “enough to kill every person in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada combined.”
Since 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported over 2.1 million encounters with illegal aliens.