More Misinformation from the Media:
Yet data from the Cato Institute indicates that diversity-visa holders and illegal immigrants, the groups most maligned by Mr. Trump, are far less prone to crime than native-born Americans. . . . But immigration . . . has been widely regarded as good for America and for the American dream. . . . [Immigrants] are more likely to own businesses or to start businesses than the native -born; of the 87 privately held companies currently valued at more than $1 billion, 51 percent had immigrant founders. . . . A Gallup poll last June found that 62 percent of Americans support maintaining current levels of immigration. Trump’s Backward View of Immigration, [Editorial] The New York Times, 2/7/18. [Link]
Fact Check: Immigration advocates of the media often get so caught up in their enthusiasm that they lose track of what they’re saying. A perfect example is this claim that “illegal immigrants . . . are far less prone to crime than native-born Americans.” The obvious fact is that all illegal immigrants are crime prone as violators of our immigration laws. And if they remain in the U.S. for any length of time they commonly commit other violations, including document fraud, tax evasion, and unlawful employment. These are crimes with victims.
This reality notwithstanding, the immigration pushers often claim that illegal aliens commit fewer violent crimes and crimes against property than natives. But they can’t really substantiate this claim because no agency of government keeps comprehensive records on crimes by illegal aliens. Nevertheless, what records there are often point to a higher crime rate by these unlawful residents.
One example is a recent study of records in Arizona which found that illegal aliens in the state between the ages of 15 and 35, three percent of Arizona’s population, comprise eight percent of the prison population. They comprise 13 percent of inmates convicted of first and second degree murder.
The assertion that immigrants own more businesses is one immigration pushers constantly repeat. Even so, runs squarely against statistics of the Census Bureau which show that rate of business ownership by natives and immigrants is essentially the same. The claim that immigrants started a disproportionate share of major businesses is commonly based on a statistical sleight of hand. If one of a firm’s multiple founders is an immigrant, then it is counted as having been founded by an immigrant—even though the majority of founders were natives.
A significant thing about the Gallup poll is that it made no reference to the number of immigrants coming in each year. Thus the people favoring the current level may not have realized that this level is more than one million a year. This has gone on for 25 years, creating the highest sustained wage of immigration in our history.
When a poll mentions numbers the results can be quite different. A recent Harvard-Harris poll found that 35 percent of Americans wanted an annual immigration rate of less than 250,000 and 19 percent wanted less than 500,000. Thus a majority of Americans want immigration cut in half—which is what the Trump Administration has proposed.
To say that immigration is good for America is a meaningless statement unless one specifies its quantity and character. Too much immigration divides out country, depresses wages, and stresses our infrastructure and environment. If most Americans want less immigration—and they have good reason for doing so—the editorialists of the Times should respect their American dream.