Do Migrants Really Commit More Crimes?

We hear so much these days about the migrant caravan straining to cross into the U.S.  Media reports focus on the immigrants’ desire for a better life, the desperation that led hundreds of them to throw rocks and storm the border at Tijuana and the tear gas that forced them back into Mexico. And we hear repeated warnings about how our crime rate will surely increase if we allow unchecked immigration.  But is that true? Do those who migrate here commit more crimes than legal residents?

Researching that proved to be a real eye-opener.  Why? Because there is no definitive answer! Neither states nor the federal government keep track of the citizenship status or the country of birth of those they arrest.  Unbelievable but true.

This Group Says “Yes”, Illegal Aliens Commit More Crimes Than US Citizens

That said, the Center for Immigration Studies says there is enough data from various federal, state and local agencies to piece together a picture of crimes committed by non-citizens. After studying that data, the Center concluded that, yes, non-citzens are more likely to commit federal crimes than citizens, crimes that have nothing to do with immigration issues.  No one is keeping a tally as to whether these criminal immigrants are here legally or illegally, but the Center says that group accounts for a disproportionate share of those sentenced for crimes like kidnapping, drug offenses, money laundering, embezzlement, fraud, auto theft, assault, homicide and gun related offenses.

So, what data is out there that no one agency is bothering to collect and analyze?

Let’s start with the U.S. Sentencing Commission which found that in 2014, 75 percent of all defendants who were convicted for federal drug crimes were illegal immigrants. 75 percent. Most of those crimes occurred in a concentrated area, along the border region in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Florida and New York were also negatively affected by criminal immigrants.

Then there is the FBI which tracks the nation’s murders and reports that from 2003 through 2009 (last available figures) criminal aliens committed more than 25,000 homicides. The General Accounting Office agreed.

And the GAO also calculated the cost of incarcerating this group.  They did that by studying the reimbursements made to federal, state and local lock ups under the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program which compensates facilities housing convicted immigrants.  The GAO put the 2009 price tag at about $1.6 billion so this year’s taxpayer tab is sure to be closer to $2 billion.

Peter Kirsanous, a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission says there is an, “overwhelming amount of data that shows that illegal aliens not only commit more crimes, at a higher rate than lawful residents but (they commit) more serious crimes at a far higher rate than lawful residents.”

“We’re not talking about a little bit” of crime Kirsanous said. “We’re talking about a lot.  Americans are being slaughtered.”

But my research showed there is great controversy on the issue of crime and immigrants.  And to further confuse things it is not always possible to know whether the expert speaking or the study they refer t o is focused on the entire immigrant population or just those who entered illegally.

Criminology professors Charis Kubrin and Graham Ousey say they examined 51 different research studies  on the topic and concluded there is no relationship between immigration and increased crime.  In a scholarly article published last year they said that narrative is simply false.

“Overall, immigration does not cause crime,” professor Kubrin said. “In fact, our analysis reveals that, if anything, immigration causes a drop in crime,” especially in traditional immigrant destinations like Los Angeles and Chicago where, presumably, large and supportive communities rally around newcomers.

The CATO Institute agrees.  The Institute’s Alex Nowrasteh cites 2015 statistics from Texas showing that native-born residents were much more likely to be convicted of a crime than undocumented migrants.  “As a percentage of their respective populations, there were 56 percent fewer criminal convictions of illegal immigrants than of native-born Americans,” Nowrasteh said.  The Texas data also showed a marked decline in migrant’s homicide and property crimes.

No Definitive Facts on Immigrants And Crimes – Why Not?

Of course, those statistics provide a snapshot from only one state.  But the latest data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission (2016) shows a similar nationwide trend, a drop in nearly all categories of federal crimes perpetrated by non-citizens.

So, should we take heart that while crimes committed by illegal immigrants still exist in substantial numbers they may actually beoccurring less frequently?  Or is the point that any person who illegally enters the U.S. and commits a crime is one too many?

Civil Rights Commissioner Kirsanous says, “We probably are able to find out how many Norwegian prisoners are held in Minnesota (but) it’s much harder to figure out the crime rate of illegals” across America.  That is outrageous.

I don’t want to hear about the politics of this question or who is to blame. I want the problem fixed. We deserve good, reliable, up to date facts. That Washington has not yet set up a structure to definitively analyze the effect of immigration on our country is unconscionable. That must change.

###

 

1 Comment

  1. Diane Dimond on December 3, 2018 at 12:32 pm

    Daniel Simone writes:

    When a foreigner enters the United Sates illegally, this in itself is the first crime he or she has already committed. If that same foreigner perpetrates a second crime, it’s one that would not have happened if he or she had not been in the country. Statistics of federal crimes do not represent an accurate picture of the percentage of crimes committed by illegal immigrants because the vast majority of felonies and misdemeanors perpetrated by illegals are not federal crimes. However, localized crimes reported on local television stations news programs involve mostly undocumented foreigners. This is a fact, not my opinion.

Leave a Comment