Do Illegals Have Lower Rates of Crime?

A Cato Institute study in 2018 found that “the conviction and arrest rates for illegal immigrants were lower than those for native-born Americans.” Similarly, a 2020 study by the National Academy of Sciences found lower rates of crime among illegals. Both studies, each of which has been enthusiastically endorsed by various media and government outlets, relied upon statistics gathered by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

A new study by the Center for Immigration Studies, published October 11, calls into question the previous two, alleging misuse of DPS data. Put succinctly, the categorization of arrested and convicted criminals changes over time, as more information is learned about them. Often, the real status of an offender is learned only after he is imprisoned, not at the time of arrest or even trial. Consequently, an individual’s status may be listed as Unknown at the time of arrest and only revealed as Illegal later, if at all.

The CIS authors conclude “that illegal immigrants have above average conviction rates for homicide and sexual assault, while they have lower rates for robbery and drugs. Significant uncertainty persists, however, as to how many illegals may remain unidentified, especially those who committed lesser offenses requiring little or no prison time. While strong claims about the overall criminality of illegal immigrants are not possible with the current data, prior research has understated it substantially.”

For more, see CIS.org.

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