Which states have the highest rates of illegal immigrant-related crimes in 2024?

1. Data exist, but not in the form you asked for — CBP reports counts, not state rates

The most relevant government dataset for “criminal aliens” is the Criminal Alien Statistics produced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which tabulates convictions and Border Patrol arrests by offense type for federal fiscal years (including FY2024) and explains that “criminal aliens” are people with prior convictions recorded in CBP databases ^{[1] [2]}. That reporting organizes national counts and offense categories; it does not produce a standardized state‑by‑state rate of crimes committed by people in the U.S. without authorization, so it cannot by itself answer “which states have the highest rates” in the sense of per‑capita or comparable rates across jurisdictions ^{[1] [2]}.

2. Academic and DOJ research challenges the premise that unauthorized immigrants drive higher crime

A growing body of scholarship summarized by Migration Policy Institute and other outlets finds immigrants generally commit crimes at lower rates than native‑born Americans, and some state‑level analyses (notably Texas, which records immigration status in arrest data) show undocumented people arrested or convicted at lower rates than U.S.‑born residents for violent, property and drug crimes ^{[3] [4] [7]}. The NIJ‑funded study of Texas found undocumented arrest rates substantially below native‑born rates for the 2012–2018 period ^[4].

3. Researchers warn state differences and methodological limits — you can’t generalize from one state

Scholars note that crime patterns can vary across states and localities and that data quality differs: Texas has unique data advantages because the Department of Public Safety logs immigration status, but “Texas figures were the best available” does not mean they apply nationwide; researchers caution against extrapolating Texas results to all states ^{[6] [4]}. The 2017–2014 longitudinal research literature also shows mixed findings and emphasizes that many studies leave unanswered questions at the macro‑level ^[8].

4. Law enforcement and political outlets highlight counts and anecdotes, producing competing narratives

ICE and congressional Republicans have emphasized large absolute counts of noncitizens with convictions on interior rosters or arrested in enforcement actions — for example, a House committee cited ICE figures about hundreds of thousands on ICE’s non‑detained docket and ICE press releases list targeted arrests in cities — which frame the issue as a national public‑safety problem ^{[9] [10]}. These counts are not incompatible with academic findings, but they represent a different framing: absolute counts and enforcement actions versus comparative rates per population or per group ^{[9] [10]}.

5. Media fact‑checks and analysts say a “migrant crime wave” isn’t supported by broad evidence

News outlets and independent analysts have repeatedly fact‑checked campaign claims of a migrant‑driven crime surge and pointed to the research consensus that immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes than natives; Reuters and public broadcasters note that studies generally do not support claims of a migrant crime wave and stress the limits of available state data ^{[5] [6]}.

6. What a careful answer would require — and what the current sources don’t provide

To name the “states with the highest rates” of crimes committed by people in the country without authorization in 2024 would require: state‑level counts of crimes that reliably identify immigration status, consistent definitions of offenses, and accurate population denominators for unauthorized populations to compute rates. CBP and ICE provide national and enforcement‑action counts but do not supply standardized state per‑capita illegal‑immigrant crime rates for 2024 in the sources at hand ^{[1] [2] [11]}. Migration Policy and NIJ materials indicate lower relative offending rates among unauthorized immigrants where measured, but they also stress replication and geographic variation are open questions ^{[3] [4]}.

Conclusion (brief): Current federal enforcement statistics give absolute counts of “criminal aliens” (useful for enforcement context) but do not yield a defensible, comparable list of states with the highest illegal‑immigrant crime rates in 2024; independent research summarized by Migration Policy and NIJ suggests unauthorized immigrants often have lower offending rates than native‑born Americans where we have reliable data, while political and enforcement sources emphasize large absolute numbers and targeted arrests ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [9]}.