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Once again Trump managed to spew an amazing number of lies during the recent presidential debate. He spent most of his time making unfounded claims about a “migrant crime wave.”
Is Trump telling the truth? Not according to the Texas Criminal History System, the statewide repository of criminal history data. Check out Fig. 1. Felony arrest rates, Texas (2012 to 2018) in the article: “Felony arrest rates by detailed measures of violent and property crime, Texas (2012 to 2018).”
You will see documentation that confirms “without exception, undocumented Immigrants have the lowest crime rates. Compared to native-born citizens, undocumented immigrants are roughly half as likely to be arrested for homicide, felonious assault and sexual assault,” according to a 2020 paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, native-born citizens are three to five times more likely to be arrested for robbery, burglary, theft and arson compared to undocumented immigrants.
Although official Texas CCH crime rate data is not yet available to the public, we can view more recent data from the Department of Public Safety, which records the immigration status of all arrestees throughout the state. This agency confirmed a considerably lower felony arrest rates among undocumented immigrants compared to legal immigrants and native-born citizens with no evidence that undocumented criminality has increased in recent years.
Likewise research shows despite an influx of immigrants to sanctuary cities, there’s been no overall increase in crime. So much for Trump’s malicious lies about a “migrant crime wave.”
Joan Davis, RN, MS