More Misinformation from the Media:
[T]hat includes nearly 11 million illegal foreign nationals. Logistically, it is questionable how . . . we could arrange . . . to have all these people deported. More importantly, why would we want law-abiding and contributing residents deported?
In fact, there is a scholarly consensus, which has concluded for years that these foreign nationals, despite their violation of civil law, commit proportionately fewer criminal offenses than U.S. citizens. – Which Undocumented Immigrants Should We Deport, Kimberley Mehlman-Orozco, The Hill, 10/10/16.
Fact Check: This article seems to assume that illegal entry and residence in the United States are not really crimes of any significance, so those who commit them are basically “law-abiding.” The author concedes that they sometimes commit offences which are significant, but that they do so at a lower rate than American citizens. This is a common assertion of illegal alien advocates who base their claim on conviction and incarceration rates.
The problem with this kind of measure is that no government source has comprehensive and definitive statistics comparing native and illegal alien crime rates. The best researchers can do is to take incomplete statistics and extrapolate and guess from them. Some of them make a case for a lower crime rate by illegal aliens, but others interpret the data to show a higher rate.
In any event, it is not necessary to cite conviction and incarceration rates to demonstrate a higher level of illegal alien crime. Living in the U.S. without authorization almost always entails a multiple violation of laws. These violations are seldom prosecuted and therefore are not recorded. But they are still crimes, and quite often they are not victimless crimes.
Illegal aliens commonly use false documents to obtain jobs in the U.S. Sometimes they do so by stealing the identity of citizens, which causes significant problems for those Americans. Using false identity is a crime, and so is unauthorized employment. The latter takes jobs from American citizens and reduces their wage levels.
According to some estimates, as many as half of illegal aliens are paid under the table, which is the crime of federal and state tax evasion. This puts a burden on American taxpayers. On average illegal aliens receive more in tax-paid benefits than they pay in taxes. And when they do pay state and federal taxes, more than a few commit tax fraud by claiming bogus dependents.
Even if illegal aliens violated no other laws than those forbidding their presence, it is quite wrong to dismiss the importance of those laws. To trivialize them is to deny the sovereign and democratic right of Americans to decide what the makeup and character of their nation will be. To let anyone and everyone cross our border is to make our border meaningless—which in turn makes our country meaningless.