On August 14, 630 KHOW-AM host Peter Boyles claimed that “when you look at the numbers in California -- and if it's in California now it's here tomorrow afternoon -- 25 percent of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.” In fact, according to U.S. Department of Justice statistics published in June, of the 175,115 federal and state prisoners held in California at midyear 2006, 15,849 -- or 9 percent -- were noncitizens, legal and illegal. Furthermore, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's fourth quarter 2006 Jail Profile Survey Report, of the average daily county jail population of 81,612, only 9,350 -- or 11.46 percent -- were classified as “criminal/illegal aliens.” Neither report specified the nationalities of incarcerated “noncitizens” or “criminal/illegal aliens.”

Boyles provided no source for his claim that 25 percent of California inmates are “Mexican nationals here illegally.”

As Colorado Media Matters noted, on his October 20, 2006, broadcast, Boyles similarly claimed that "[s]ome of the estimates -- from the U.S. Justice Department, and for the guys at Media Matters, that's where it's comes from -- shows illegals now make up half of California's prison population, creating a massive criminal subculture that strains the state budgets and creates a nightmare for local police forces." However, according to U.S. Department of Justice statistics available at that time, at midyear 2005, 16,613 noncitizens (legal and illegal) were incarcerated in California prisons, representing 10.1 percent of the total California prison population. Moreover, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Jail Profile Survey: Annual Report 2005 -- the latest statistics available at the time -- reported that "[t]he percentage of criminal/illegal aliens in California jails has continued to drop since 2000, and now stands at 10.6% of the total ADP [average daily jail population] (versus 14% in 2000)." According to the report, the average daily population for 2005 was 79,615 and the “2005 number of criminal/illegal aliens” was 8,523.

During his August 14 show, Boyles also called a suspect in the July 29 shooting of a Glenwood Springs police officer an illegal immigrant, although a news article Boyles read about the suspect's arrest did not make such a statement and a subsequent article reported that the suspect was a lawful U.S. resident. Boyles, reading from an August 14 Rocky Mountain News article about the case, said on his broadcast that “Mauricio ”Flaco" Villa Garcia-Peña, arrested Friday, remains in custody in ... an [U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement] ICE cell, or an ICE retainer. Online court records, writes the morning Rocky Mountain News, show Garcia-Peña pled guilty on the 19th of July to a felony charge -- felony! -- charge of motor theft." Boyles then added, “And he was out, he was illegal, and he tried to kill a cop.”

However, an August 15 News article -- which revised the suspect's name from the newspaper's August 14 piece and reported that the suspect was “an alleged accomplice” in the shooting case -- reported that although it was not clear whether the suspect should have been remanded to federal immigration authorities following his felony plea, he is “a lawful permanent resident of the United States”:

At the time of the shooting Mauricio Garcia Villa-Peña, 20, was out on a $5,000 bond after he pleaded guilty to felony motor vehicle theft on July 19. The Glenwood Springs officer was shot and wounded 10 days later.

[...]

It is common for some defendants, who are out on bond for offenses that are not considered serious crimes, to remain free pending their sentences.

However, it is not clear whether Villa-Peña should have been remanded to the custody of federal immigration authorities after his conviction. Villa-Peña is a lawful permanent resident of the United States, according to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office and his lawyer. [emphasis added]

Boyles on his August 15 show did not mention the News article reporting that the suspect was a legal U.S. resident.

Finally, Boyles repeated the falsehood that Denver is a so-called “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants, stating, "[T]he city of San Francisco wants the ... taxpayers out there to pay for green cards for the illegals in San Francisco. It's been announced it's, it's a sanctuary city. At least they have the nuts to come out and call it sanctuary. They, they can at least admit it. This city can't admit that."

As Colorado Media Matters has noted repeatedly, Denver is not a sanctuary city, according to several sources, including ICE.

From the August 14 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:

BOYLES: This is Glenwood Springs. This was a police officer who, thank God, was wearing his vest, or he would have been dead. So it wasn't like they didn't try. Now they're captured. [Reading from Rocky Mountain News article] Mauricio “Flaco” Villa Garcia-Peña, arrested Friday, remains in custody in, in, in an ICE cell, or an ICE retainer. Online court records, writes the morning Rocky Mountain News, show Garcia-Peña pled guilty on the 19th of July to a felony charge -- felony! -- charge of motor theft. And he was out, he was illegal, and he tried to kill a cop.

Do you have anything to say about this? Anything to say about this? Hmm? Anything? Does -- when, when is this going to stop? When are you going to say, “That's enough”? When is somebody going to say to George Bush, “You're responsible for this”? Or -- or what? Or what?

Every night and every day I read this stuff and I go, “Man, that's enough of this.” And every day and every night [unintelligible] does it again. And I go, “Well, maybe that's not enough of it. Maybe we're gonna do it again.” But -- in my mind, and when you look at the numbers in California -- and if it's in California now it's here tomorrow afternoon -- 25 percent of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally. The cost of immigration to -- and this is illegal immigration -- to the American taxpayer, 1997: $70 billion a year. That's from professor Donald Huddle, Rice University. That was then -- '97. According to the Los Angeles Times, Orange County, California, is now the home to 275 gangs with 17,000 members -- 98 percent of them are Mexican and Asian.

I don't know. As you know, the San Francisco Chronicle is -- and the whole San Francisco -- the city of San Francisco wants the -- they wanted the, the taxpayers out there to pay for green cards for the illegals in San Francisco. It's been announced it's, it's a sanctuary city. At least they have the nuts to come out and call it sanctuary. They, they can at least admit it. This city can't admit that. I don't know what we do, guys. I, I'm serious, I'm serious, I'm serious. This -- they would have killed that cop had they, had they had the ability, had he not had -- no, they had the ability. Thank God he was wearing the vest and didn't die. Wasn't like they didn't try.