Arrests of border crossers and illegal aliens from Venezuela have increased more than 11,000 percent since 2021 in the sanctuary city of Chicago, Illinois, law enforcement records reveal.

Since the summer of last year, more than 22,000 border crossers and illegal aliens have arrived in Chicago after either successfully crossing the United States-Mexico border or having been released into the nation’s interior by President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The majority of border crossers and illegal aliens in Chicago are from Venezuela.

According to Chicago Police Department records, exclusively obtained by CWB Chicago, illegal immigration to the city is helping drive a crime surge in which shoplifting has exploded.

In 2021, the Chicago Police Department made arrests of just six individuals who listed Venezuela as their birthplace. So far this year, nearly 700 Venezuelans have been arrested by the department — a more than 11,300 percent increase in less than two years.

Likewise, in 2019, the department arrested only 14 Venezuelans for crimes, while just seven were arrested in all of 2020, and 26 were arrested in 2022. Compared to last year, the number of Venezuelans being arrested by police has jumped more than 2,500 percent.

The rise in Chicago arrests among border crossers and illegal aliens from Venezuela can be traced directly  to Biden’s expansive catch and release network that DHS continues carrying out at the southern border.

Since Biden took office in January 2021, about 6.5 million border crossers and illegal aliens have been encountered at the border, a figure that far outpaces U.S. annual births. To date, millions have either successfully crossed the border or been released into American communities by Biden’s DHS.

The agency’s Inspector General estimates that more than 60,000 border crossers and illegal aliens are being released into the U.S. interior every month. Over the course of a year, this indicates that Biden’s DHS is releasing into American communities over 720,000 border crossers and illegal aliens.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.