Latest news with #migrantcrime
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer under pressure to reveal migrant crime numbers
Sir Keir Starmer will come under pressure next week to reveal the 'hidden' scale of migrant crime. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, is to propose a law change that would force the Government to publish the data identifying the migrant nationalities with the highest crime rates. He is laying an amendment to Labour's Crime and Policing Bill that would require ministers to publish every quarter the nationality, country of birth, visa route, asylum status and method of entry of everyone convicted and sentenced to crimes in the Crown Court and magistrates court. Mr Jenrick plans to force it to a vote of MPs on the floor of the Commons and said that, if passed, it would end the 'shameful cover-up' by state authorities which has prevented the public from being told the scale of crime committed by foreign nationals. It would mirror an approach by some US states and Denmark, where league tables compiled from the government data show the crime rates of the top four nations – Kuwait, Tunisia, Lebanon and Somalia – are eight times those of Danish nationals. 'We need the full, unvarnished truth' The Telegraph has previously published data on migrant crime rates but only as a result of the figures being released by Government departments under freedom of information laws. That research suggested that foreign nationals were convicted of up to a quarter of sex crimes despite census data showing that they made up just 9.3 per cent of the population. Mr Jenrick said: 'We need to know the truth about who is committing crime in our country so we can protect the British public. 'Right now we are importing a crime wave. Data that has been dragged out of the authorities shows migrants from some countries are enormously more likely to commit violent and sexual offences. 'Indicative statistics suggest Albanians are 153 times more likely to be convicted of drug offences, while Eritreans are 20 times more likely to commit a sexual offence. We need the full, unvarnished truth. 'Keir Starmer has a choice. Will he release the data about migrant crime, as countries like Denmark do, and act on it? Or will he instigate yet another shameful cover-up?' Labour has proposed its own league tables of migrant crime rates based on the nationalities and foreign criminals living in communities while awaiting deportation. Albanians, Romanians and Poles are expected to be among the top nationalities for crimes including violence, robbery, theft and drug production and dealing. It is understood Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, overruled Home Office officials who have previously claimed it is too difficult to provide quality data on foreign criminals. She has told them she wants it published by the end of the year. Her immigration white paper also proposed that the Home Office should be informed of all crimes committed by foreign nationals in the UK as part of a deportation crackdown. At present, foreign criminals are only reported to the Home Office if they receive a jail sentence. A year behind bars is the automatic threshold for deportation from the UK, although those with prison terms under one year can still be considered for removal. It is thought unlikely, however, that Labour will back Mr Jenrick's proposal although it is likely to be backed by Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Data previously published by The Telegraph and obtained through FOI legislation by the Centre for Migration control revealed that foreign nationals accounted for between one in eight (12.5 per cent) and as many as one in six (16.4 per cent) of all convictions in England and Wales. According to the new data, 872,488 convictions were recorded on the police national computer between 2021 and 2023, of which 833,522 had identifiable nationality information. Foreign nationals accounted for 104,000, but there were a further 38,966 where the nationality was 'unknown'.
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Cruel and heartless:' Parents of murder victim slam Kristi Noem after DHS secretary cites their daughter in speech
The parents of a murdered woman have lashed out at U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem after she relocated a speech in Illinois, so that she could deliver it outside of the victim's former home. Community organizer Emma Schafer, 24, was fatally stabbed in her Springfield apartment in July 2023. The suspected killer, Gabriel P Calixto, remains at large. Secretary Noem had been scheduled to speak on Wednesday in front of the Illinois Governor's mansion, where outspoken Democrat JB Pritzker resides. Instead, she moved her lectern outside of Schafer's old residence as she criticized the state's 'sanctuary' status and attempted to use the latter's tragic story as an example of 'migrant crime,' claiming that Calixto had been in the country illegally. Her actions drew a sharp rebuke from bereaved parents Cathy Schwartz and John Shafer, who attacked Noem in a statement of their own hours later. 'Our daughter Emma radiated love and light everywhere she went and for all people,' the couple said. 'Even as a child, she was a friend to everyone and someone who spoke up for the less fortunate. She dedicated her life – her career and her free time – to causes of social justice and equity. That was just who she was. 'To see her used by Secretary Noem and others to advance a cruel and heartless political agenda is not just deeply painful to us – it is an insult to her memory. 'Noem's words are in direct conflict with who Emma was as a person. Emma built up community and stood with all members, including immigrants.' The couple did not attend Noem's speech, choosing instead to join protesters in demonstrating against her appearance in Springfield, with a video posted to social media showing activists on the city's streets telling the secretary to leave and a man holding up a sign to passing cars that read: 'F*** Fascism.' Schwartz and Shafer's statement continued: 'No parent should have to experience the loss of a child. But every time her name is brought into these conversations – conversations she would have wanted nothing to do with – we have to relive the pain of her death. 'Secretary Noem, as parents still grieving the loss of a child, we beg you to stop. This is not who she was. This is not helping us. Her memory should live in all the people she touched and the causes that she fought for. 'We ask all of you to remember Emma as she was and to live your life as she did: with courageous empathy and love for all.' The former South Dakota governor used her address to argue that Illinois's sanctuary policy had been 'absolutely disastrous' and to pay tribute to 'angel families' whom she alleged had been the victims of violent crime as a direct consequence of it. 'Now that we've given the American people the safest and most secure border in American history, we have to double down at removing dangerous criminals,' she said. 'President Trump has been focused on making sure that we're going after the worst of the worst.' Attacking Pritzker personally, Noem said: 'This governor has bragged about Illinois being a firewall against President Trump's immigration enforcement agenda, and it is very clear that he has violating the Constitution of the United States because it is a federal law that the federal government and the president set and enforce immigration policies.' Speaking later, Pritzker claimed the secretary had had to move her press conference away from his mansion, where banners reading 'Due Process for All!' were draped across the gates to oppose the administration's mass deportation push, to avoid protesters turning out against her. He dismissed Noem's appearance as a 'publicity stunt' on X and advised her in a statement to 'spend less time performing for Fox News and more time protecting the homeland.' 'Unlike Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, Illinois follows the law,' Pritzker said. 'The Trump administration is violating the United States Constitution, denying people due process, and disappearing law-abiding neighbors – including children who are U.S. citizens. 'Yet, they are taking no real action to promote public safety and deport violent criminals within the clear and defined legal process.'
