The murder of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts by a Mexican undocumented man has brought another tirade against violent, crime-happy immigrants. Pres. Trump insists that immigrants–and he seldom limits his disdain only to those who are undocumented–must be kept out of our country because of all the dangerous crime they commit.
But the research data shows the opposite may actually be true.
Below is part of a report written after gathering data for 20 years. You can read the entire report at Fact check: Immigration doesn’t bring crime into U.S., data say.
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For the last decade, we have been studying how immigration to an area impacts crime.
Across our studies, one finding remains clear: Cities and neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants have lower rates of crime and violence, all else being equal.
Our research also points to the importance of city context for understanding the immigration-crime relationship. In one study, for example, we found that cities with historically high immigration levels are especially likely to enjoy reduced crime rates as a result of their immigrant populations….
Our analysis of the literature reveals that immigration has a weak crime-suppressing effect. In other words, more immigration equals less crime….
The upshot? We find no evidence to indicate that immigration leads to more crime and it may, in fact, suppress it.