Lie #4: Undocumented immigrants are more likely to commit crimes.
The Truth: Many researchers crunching the numbers have found there’s no connection between immigration and crime.
As the electoral battles heat up, we see more lurid headlines about undocumented immigrants being “more likely to commit crimes”.
What are the facts? Many researchers crunching the numbers have found there’s no connection between immigration and crime.
“In a recent Pew Research Center report about the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, 57% of Americans say the large number of migrants seeking to enter the country leads to more crime,”
CNN’s Catherine E. Shoichet noted in an article posted on Feb. 27. But, she said, this idea “flies in the face of years of studies looking at what happened after immigrants came to communities across the U.S. Many researchers crunching the numbers have found there’s no connection between immigration and crime.
Some have even found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S.”
Alex Nowrasteh of the libertarian Cato Institute wrote on March 6 that his recent research into homicides allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants in Texas “showed that illegal immigrants have lower criminal conviction and arrest rates than native‐born Americans and that legal immigrants had the lowest of all.”
El Tribuno del Pueblo brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: tribunodelpueblo.org. We’re all volunteers, no paid staff. Please donate at http://tribunodelpueblo.org to keep bringing you the voices of the movement because no human being is illegal.
