Mark Clemente

As Title 42 comes to an end, if your argument against undocumented immigration is "crime" then you aren't looking at the stats. While we hear the media often talk about how illegal immigration is leading to crime in America, if you look at the real statistics, this isn't the case. While the argument could be made that the increase in population ultimately leads to more overcrowded cities, a harder time finding jobs, etc., which ultimately leads to more crime, there is little evidence of that either. Let's look at a study conducted in Texas between 2012 and 2018, using data by the Texas Criminal Justice System. Looking at the results of this study, one could more likely conclude that immigration (undocumented and legal) could actually lead to a reduction in the crime rate in America, as opposed to an increase. The total violent crime rate between 2012 and 2018 among US-born citizens was 213.0, while the violent crime rate for legal immigrants was 185.3, and just 96.2 for undocumented immigrants. That means that these stats show US-born citizens are more than twice as likely to commit a violent crime and get caught than undocumented immigrants are. The rates for drug and property crimes are even more staggering — in favor of undocumented immigrants committing less crimes. I understand the concern with immigration, and I agree that more needs to be done, but the false narrative that immigrants are criminals or that they are leading to increased crime rates in America appears to be a false one. Fact is, you should fear a US-Citizen more than an undocumented immigrant when it comes to the odds that they will commit a crime on US soil. Does this mean there are no criminals who immigrate here? Absolutely not. I'd love to know your thoughts on this.