Illegals' crime statistics exaggerated

Friday, January 2, 2009 | 7 Comments [ View ]


The letter writer of the Dec. 30 letter, "E-Verify system works to stop illegals," has once again regaled us with horror stories of illegal immigration.

A recent (200 report from "California Counts" (Vol. 9, No. 3) looks at crime in California. For crimes against persons in 2005, foreign-born persons were incarcerated at a rate of 161 per 100,000 people and U.S.-born persons were incarcerated at a rate of 259 per 100,000. Studies show that males between 18 and 40 years of age are more likely to commit crimes. If one looks at persons institutionalized (which includes jails, for minor crimes) in the 18-40 male age group, U.S.-born men have rates of institutionalization that are 10 times higher than those of foreign-born men.

For U.S.-born persons, higher crime rates correlate with less education. This is not true for foreign-born people who have much lower crime rates than the U.S.-born in every educational category. The report also shows that crime rates have decreased in California cities that have had large inflows of recent immigrants.

For those who would argue that illegal immigrants who commit a crime are quickly deported and thus do not appear in these statistics, the actual effect appears to be that these people are held in jail for longer periods of time than U.S. citizens guilty of the same crimes, while the wheels of bureaucracy slowly process their cases.

Statistics can be sliced and diced any way you want to make a point. Based on these statistics, would it not make us safer to encourage more immigration while we round up all poorly educated, 18-40 year old U.S.-born males and place them in detention camps?

Jim Wilson
Kaysville



By: Johnny @ 01/02/2009, 5:23 PM

Your article is about illegals. Then you start citing statistics about foreign born. Why would anyone bother reading beyond the first two paragraphs?


By: Red Bull @ 01/02/2009, 4:30 PM

Right on, Rose. I agree, let's focus on the US-born loafers too. It's so easy to identity-blame. "Ship off all the illegals" is just simplistic and impossible.
Everyone should just keep working as hard as they say they do, and that goes for the natives and the illegals.
Get a life.


By: Rose @ 01/02/2009, 3:55 PM

I'm very glad to see that the writer of this story is open-minded & not racist. It's so refreshing to hear that not everyone in this country is so hateful. It's very true that alot of people in this country are responsible for crime. Why is it that no one seems to say or do anything about all the US citizens who use & take advantage of the government & live off of them? Isn't that a crime as well? Alot of people whine around about illegal immigrants who don't pay taxes, get free medical care & food stamps. What about the deadbeats who are citizens who get free rent or who lie and use the government because they don't want to work?


By: Rose @ 01/02/2009, 3:46 PM

No, NOT 100% OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE CURRENTLY COMMITTING CRIMES. I'm so sick of people criticizing illegal immigrants & listening to all the racist, closed-minded people! Let's NOT forget that the white people who first came to this country years ago WERE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. The fact that ICE didn't exist back then doesn't change that fact. This country belonged to my people, the native americans, until the white people showed up & controlled & killed many of them. They hurt & stole from not only native americans, but also mexicans. No one seems to remember this. I don't care what color your skin is or what country you're from ........... we're ALL God's children! God doesn't hate & judge a person in that manner, so why should we?? And NOT all illegal immigrants are responsible for crime in this country. My proof is my husband. He's never been in trouble with the police, he's never sold or done drugs & he's never hurt anyone. He's not legal yet, but we're in the process of making him legal. Just because he came here illegally does NOT make him a criminal! I don't care what anyone says. They come here to work & make a better life for themselves & their families. I think that's a basic human right. Just because I'm a US citizen doesn't mean I agree with how this country's run. Obviously, how it's being run now isn't working, so it's way past time to do something different. And give people a chance. US citizens need to stop & think & be thankful that they were fortunate enough to be born in this country. Alot of us are spoiled even. What if you were born in a desperately poor country & had to watch your family suffer & go hungry? I think you'd do anything you could to help them, even if it meant entering another country illegally! Alot of you need to get off your pedestals & have a heart.



By: jorge ramos @ 01/02/2009, 2:30 PM

Lunacy. Foreign born does not equal ILLEGAL ALIENS. Foreign born includes legal residents as well. Why can't you dolts use the correct statistics. Oh I know why, it's because the p.c. crowds denounces anything that tallies the exact numbers of ILLEGALS as "racial profiling".


By: Blue Lou @ 01/02/2009, 12:58 PM

Cry me a river, John Dough.


By: John Dough @ 01/02/2009, 12:45 PM

Jim,

Your arguement has one important flaw: 100% of all illegal immigrants are comitting crimes currently. Hence the word: illegal. Here's a fact for you: if one illegal immigrant commits a crime then that is one more than we need in America. As your story shows we already have crime in the U.S. and we don't need to import any more.

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