Quote:
Originally Posted by _______
The idea behind these stories is that illegal immigrants commit crimes at a higher rate than the rest of the population. And it's true since 100% of them violated immigration law.
But if you back out violations of immigration laws, you'll find no evidence that they commit other crimes at a higher rate. In fact, the incarceration rate for undocumented immigrants is less than the population as a whole if you back out the illegal entry or overstaying of a visa.
Which, if you think about it, makes perfect sense. They want to stay in this country so they have more incentive than most to stay clean. Any crime results not just in prison but deportation following.
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I have no idea what the reality is on this, but I want to point out that something seems amiss in this discussion.
One post claims that 23% of the prison population is made up of illegal immigrants and another says that the accurate number is 38%.
You are claiming that when you back out violations of immigration law illegals are no more likely to commit crimes than other Americans.
I don't know what percentage of the total US population is made up of illegal immigrants, but it's probably between 3%-7%. So if they were committing crimes at the same rate, the prison population should be a similar percent. I'll grant a couple of ticks higher just in case there is some kind of racism at work and some are in jail for immigration violation. But the numbers still don't add up. Something is wrong.
