How many child sex offenders are hiding among illegal aliens?

For years, liberal think tanks and media figures scoffed at the mere suggestion of many dangerous illegal aliens living in this country. They claimed absurdly that those who cross the border illegally are family-loving hard workers who commit crimes at a much lower rate than native Americans. A new report from Fox45 Baltimore reveals that one county has a shockingly disproportionate number of illegal alien child sex offenders, raising the question: How bad is the illegal alien sex offender problem nationwide?

We’ve seen many high-profile illegal alien rape and murder cases in recent months. Now, a new report from Baltimore County provides concrete data behind the anecdotal evidence of an epidemic of illegal alien sex offenses.

Child rape is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. But when committed by invaders who don’t belong here, it is also the most avoidable crime.

Public records obtained by Fox45 show that the Baltimore County state’s attorney filed 99 child sex crime cases between January 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024. Remarkably, nine defendants were illegal immigrants from Central American countries. That’s a lot for such a short period.

The counties around the nation’s capital, both in Maryland and Virginia, have become hotbeds of Central American criminal activity. However, Baltimore County does not have a large population of Central American illegal immigrants compared to Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. For nine defendants to be illegal aliens from only a few countries in a county of over 800,000 people is beyond coincidence.

Although we lack uniform national data to pinpoint exact figures, it is clear that child sex offenses are a significant problem among some segments of Central American illegal aliens. A 2019 report covering just 30% of North Carolina counties found that during an 18-month period from 2018-2019, more than 331 illegal aliens were charged with 1,172 child rapes and sexual assaults. In the 2018 fiscal year alone, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service arrested illegal aliens charged with 6,888 sex offenses, 5,350 sexual assaults, and 1,739 “commercialized sexual assaults.”

At a January 2020 press conference at ICE’s New York City headquarters, then-ICE Director Matt Albence revealed a tally of ICE detainers denied in the city for FY 2019. He reported that criminals against whom these detainers were lodged accounted for 17,873 criminal convictions and another 6,500 criminal charges. These included 200 homicides, over 500 robberies, over 1,000 sexual offenses, over 1,000 weapons offenses, over 3,500 assaults, and over 1,500 DUIs. This data represents just one city for one year, and only the detainers ICE managed to lodge.

Thanks to the lack of enforcement of our own existing laws, 7.4 million illegal immigrants are on ICE’s “undetained docket,” most of whom likely have criminal records in addition to immigration violations. Only 38,500 are currently in custody, meaning millions of invaders, including gang members and violent criminals, and sex offenders effectively have amnesty. How many more child sex offenders are needlessly walking free?

With only 6,000 ICE agents, it's impossible to identify and deport all criminal aliens without significant help from state and local law enforcement. Red states need authorization to deport criminal aliens upon their first arrest to prevent citizens from bearing the burden of their recidivism. At the very least, states should implement sentencing enhancements for crimes committed by people in the country illegally. In blue jurisdictions like Baltimore County, however, judges prefer more lenient sentences instead.

Fox45 highlights the case of Luis Portillo-Henriquez, convicted of repeatedly raping a 14-year-old girl. His crimes were entirely avoidable. Portillo-Henriquez was arrested four times for drunk driving or driving with a suspended license but wasn’t sentenced until he missed his court date on the fourth arrest. He received a one-year suspended sentence. Insanity.

Every Republican-controlled state should enact laws requiring police to check immigration status for driving violations and mandate self-repatriation or enhanced sentencing for those here illegally.

In Maryland, officials did the opposite. Even after Portillo-Henriquez was sentenced to 25 years for serial rape, Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Robert Cahill reduced his sentence to just 18 months. Cahill also let another illegal alien arrested for child sex crimes, Jose Mejia, avoid prison time, and he remains in the state.

Child rape is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. But when committed by invaders who don’t belong here, it is also the most avoidable crime because they tend to be habitual offenders who could have been removed. How many more violent sexual offenders remain in the country indefinitely because Republicans refuse to have a reckoning on this most vital issue?