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WASHINGTON Texas Republicans on Monday seized on the immigration status of the man who authorities say shot and killed five people in SanJacinto County over the weekend, saying the shooting highlights the "devastating consequences" of illegal immigration.

Both U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz used the shooting to hammer President Joe Biden's border policies, despite the fact that it is unclear when the suspect a Mexican citizen who has been deported four times last entered the U.S.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said Francisco Oropeza, 38, was most recently deported in 2016. Oropeza was also deported twice in 2009 and once in 2012.

"Im angry and everyone should be angry, because this will keep happening," Cruz said on his podcast. "We are dealing with day after day after day, crime, sexual assault, murders being committed by illegal aliens, over 6 million of whom Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have allowed to flood into this country with their open borders."

Numerous studies have found immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens. A2020 study of Texas Department and Public Safety data, for instance, concluded that US-born citizens are twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and more than 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.

IN-DEPTH: What to know about Francisco Oropeza, the alleged mass shooter in the Cleveland, Texas

"Contrary to public perception, we observe considerably lower felony arrest rates among undocumented immigrants compared to legal immigrants and native-born US citizens and find no evidence that undocumented criminality has increased in recent years," the study concluded.

A 2015 study by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute found 93 percent of the 10.3 million people livingin the country without authorization had no criminal record. Three percent had a felony conviction and 4 percent had a serious misdemeanor.

Cornyn acknowledged in his speech on the Senate floor that "any attempt to frame immigrants in general as a threat to our country is completely devoid of facts and detached from reality."

But, he said, cases likeOropeza's "prove that there are devastating consequences when the Biden administration simply refuses to enforce the law, both at and inside of our borders."

Border arrests topped 2 million for the first time last year, but have fallen sincethe Biden administration rolledout a new plan to manage the border that includes directing asylum seekers to points of entry to make their claims.

Cornyn pointed to reporting in Fox News and other outlets that more than 1 million migrants have crossedthe border without being apprehended by border patrol during Biden's term.

"The so-called got-aways 1.2 million of them we have no inkling what they are up to, whether they are economic migrants, simply looking for a better life," Cornyn said. "My guess is probably not. My guess is they were probably either convicted criminals who knew they would not be allowed into the United States, or they were people who were transiting the United States, carrying drugs into the interior."

The comments of the Texas senators came afterGov. Greg Abbott sparked national outrage by referring to the five people killed in the Cleveland mass shooting as "illegal immigrants" in a tweet Sunday afternoon.

His office released a correction Monday afternoon after an immigrant rights activist shared on Twitter a photo of DianaAlvarado's ID card identifying her as a permanent resident of the United States.

"We've since learned that at least one of the victims may have been in the United States legally," said Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze. "We regret if the information was incorrect and detracted from the important goal of finding and arresting the criminal."

ben.wermund@houstonchronicle.com

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Ted Cruz, John Cornyn join Texas lawmakers in blaming Cleveland killings on illegal immigration - Houston Chronicle