February 29, 2024 ☼ immigration ☼ crime
Source: The Washington Post (Link)
Nowrasteh, starting in 2018, wrote a series of reports that showed the conviction rates for serious crimes in Texas were much lower for undocumented immigrants than native-born Americans. Light, in a 2020 report, concluded that, in Texas, there are significantly lower felony arrest rates among undocumented immigrants compared to legal immigrants.
The study found that since the late 1970s, a significant shift in the way Republicans talk about immigration; it is now as negative as it was in the 1920s, an era of strict immigration quotas. As for Trump, he was the first president whose immigration language was more negative than that of the average member of his own party.
But here’s the rub: There is little evidence that immigrants — or even undocumented immigrants — cause more crime. Still, there is enough ambiguity in the data — or so little hard data — that it’s difficult to point to conclusive findings that would change opinions.