Do immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans?

Cato Institute Research Reveals Texas Data Regarding Immigrant Crime Rates

Images: immigrants during a 2010 naturalization ceremony at the Grand Canyon National Park, and immigrants on an ocean steamer passing the Statue of Liberty, NYC, 1887. Both images are in Public Domain.

IN THE NEWS:

Recently, the Wall Street Journal mentioned a research report by the Cato Institute, which is a libertarian think tank. According to the Cato Institute, 2019 data from Texas show that “illegal immigrants were 37.1 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans and legal immigrants were about 57.2 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans”.

This report does not comport with the popular political narrative of many conservatives for the last several years, particularly during President Trump’s Administration, that immigrants from our Southern border are overwhelmingly criminals. Yet, strangely, the Cato report was not headlining news! In fact, it was a brief note in the Wall Street Journal, which we happened to stumble upon, i.e., discovered it by luck.

To better understand the correlation between immigration and crime, we spoke with Professor Jennifer Chacón of U.C. Berkeley Law. She has written extensively on immigration, criminal law, constitutional law, and citizenship issues, and, additionally, been professionally engaged in prestigious roles…