Illegal Immigrant Crime Numbers Released
Hispanic Leaders Claim Statistics Are Misleading
Jason Barry
Reporter, KPHO.com

POSTED: 9:22 pm MST April 20, 2010
UPDATED: 11:05 pm MST April 20, 2010

PHOENIX -- Crime is ever present, but new numbers give a glimpse into how much is linked to illegal immigrants.

According to statistics obtained by CBS 5 News, 19 percent of the inmates in Maricopa County Jail are suspected illegal immigrants being held on an immigration or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.

In Pima County, the number of inmates suspected of being illegal immigrants is around 10 percent.

In Pinal County, the number of inmates suspected of being illegal immigrants is around 30 percent.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said if Gov. Jan Brewer signs the immigration bill to toughen Arizona's immigration laws, the amount of crime in local communities would drop dramatically.

"These are people that are always armed and they're creating an extreme risk to my deputies -- and that, I'm not going to tolerate," said Babeu.

However, Hispanic community leader Bishop Minerva Carcano said she thinks lawmakers and law enforcement officers are misinterpreting the numbers.

"It wont reduce crime," Carcano said. "What it will do is create fear -- extreme fear -- that will affect neighborhoods and will affect families and children. We don't need a state where we all live in fear."

http://www.kpho.com/news/23216424/detail.html