CATO: Illegal Immigrants More Likely to Commit Crimes than Ones Who Came Legally
Cato
A report by the Cato Institute released on February 26  reveals that illegal immigrants are much more likely to commit violent crimes than immigrants who follow the law to get here. Cato primarily provides written analysis on the portion of the report showing illegal immigrants less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.
 The report by the Cato Institutesâ Alex Nowrasteh  attempts to debunk the positions of President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security that illegal immigrants are a âsignificant source of crime.â To do so  the writer analyzed reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety and looked at crime statistics for native-born Americans  legal immigrants  and illegal immigrants.
Cato chose Texas because the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) cooperates with immigration officials and therefore has more accurate breakdowns of crimes and arrests by immigration/citizenship status  the report states. While  the report  seeks to paint a picture that illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans  it also shows that people who come to the U.S. by illegally entering the country in violation of laws are much more likely to commit additional crimes than people who immigrate here by following the law.
 The report  looks at Texas DPS crime statistics for 2015.
For example  Catoâs charts show that illegal immigrants are nearly 300 percent more likely to be convicted of a crime in Texas than a legal immigrant. Compared to native-born Americans  illegal immigrants are convicted at less than half the rate.
Illegal immigrants led the other categories in four types of crimes in Texas â gambling  kidnapping  smuggling  and vagrancy â Cato states. However  these cases are small in number and account for 0.18 percent of all criminal convictions in the Lone Star State.
In terms of arrests for various crimes  Cato reports similar numbers. Illegal immigrants are about 300 percent more likely than legal immigrants to be arrested on any criminal charge  but are 40 percent less likely than the numbers of native-born Americans arrested. Similar rates apply for arrests for homicide  but illegal immigrants are more likely than native-born Americans to be arrested for sexual assault â but not for convictions for the alleged assaults.
 Catoâs  conclusion:
 Catoâs  conclusion and analysis throughout point out the comparison between crimes committed by native-born Americans and illegal immigrants and the comparison of crimes by legal immigrants versus native-born Americans. However  Cato appears to ignore the comparison of crimes committed by illegal immigrants who come to the U.S. with an initial mindset of violating immigration law versus legal immigrants who follow U.S. immigration law to move to this country. While the facts are shown in the charts  the written analysis does not make reference to comparisons between legal and illegal immigrants.
[TGT] reveals that illegal immigrants are much more likely to commit violent crimes than immigrants who follow the law to get here.  [TGT]  primarily provides written analysis on the portion of the report showing illegal immigrants less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.
  [TGT] attempts to debunk the positions of President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security that illegal immigrants are a âsignificant source of crime.â To do so  the writer analyzed reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety and looked at crime statistics for native-born Americans  legal immigrants  and illegal immigrants.
 [TGT]  chose Texas because the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) cooperates with immigration officials and therefore has more accurate breakdowns of crimes and arrests by immigration/citizenship status  the report states. While   [TGT] seeks to paint a picture that illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans   [TGT]  also shows that people who come to the U.S. by illegally entering the country in violation of laws are much more likely to commit additional crimes than people who immigrate here by following the law.
  [TGT] looks at Texas DPS crime statistics for 2015.
For example  Catoâs charts show that illegal immigrants are nearly 300 percent more likely to be convicted of a crime in Texas than a legal immigrant. Compared to native-born Americans  illegal immigrants are convicted at less than half the rate.
Illegal immigrants led the other categories in four types of crimes in Texas â gambling  kidnapping  smuggling  and vagrancy â Cato states. However  these cases are small in number and account for 0.18 percent of all criminal convictions in the Lone Star State.
In terms of arrests for various crimes   [TGT]  reports similar numbers. Illegal immigrants are about 300 percent more likely than legal immigrants to be arrested on any criminal charge  but are 40 percent less likely than the numbers of native-born Americans arrested. Similar rates apply for arrests for homicide  but illegal immigrants are more likely than native-born Americans to be arrested for sexual assault â but not for convictions for the alleged assaults.
 Catoâs  conclusion:
 Catoâs  conclusion and analysis throughout point out the comparison between crimes committed by native-born Americans and illegal immigrants and the comparison of crimes by legal immigrants versus native-born Americans. However   [TGT]  appears to ignore the comparison of crimes committed by illegal immigrants who come to the U.S. with an initial mindset of violating immigration law versus legal immigrants who follow U.S. immigration law to move to this country. While the facts are shown in the charts  the written analysis does not make reference to comparisons between legal and illegal immigrants.