Immigrants Make Us Safer?
May 6th 2010 14:59
Here are two must-read articles on immigration and crime:
#1. How Immigration Crackdowns Backfire
Excerpt:
This is the problem with trusting both anecdotes and exaggerators over statistics. The people in Arizona that support a crackdown on illegal immigration try to present their state as being taken over by violent immigrants that murder cops and sell drugs. If this is true, it certainly has not made its impact on reality.
#2. The El Paso Miracle
Excerpt:
So what is my solution to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border, oftentimes having to trespass on private property? Being that immigrants are a net positive to the country, let more in! Clearly, there is a large demand for immigrants and a large supply of immigrants willing to come to America. Extremely burdensome and tight restrictions on immigration has prevented the quantity supplied from matching the quantity demanded. As usual, this has created a crime (illegal immigration) out of an unobjectionable action (peacefully migrating). Allowing more legal immigrants is long overdue.
Follow me on Twitter: @AGoldenDoor
#1. How Immigration Crackdowns Backfire
Excerpt:
[Arizona] has an estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants. But contrary to myth, they have not brought an epidemic of murder and mayhem with them. Surprise of surprises, the state has gotten safer.
Over the last decade, the violent crime rate has dropped by 19 percent, while property crime is down by 20 percent. Crime has also declined in the rest of the country, but not as fast as in Arizona.
Babeu's claim about police killings came as news to me. When I called his office to get a list of victims, I learned there has been only one since the beginning of 2008—deeply regrettable, but not exactly a trend.
Over the last decade, the violent crime rate has dropped by 19 percent, while property crime is down by 20 percent. Crime has also declined in the rest of the country, but not as fast as in Arizona.
Babeu's claim about police killings came as news to me. When I called his office to get a list of victims, I learned there has been only one since the beginning of 2008—deeply regrettable, but not exactly a trend.
This is the problem with trusting both anecdotes and exaggerators over statistics. The people in Arizona that support a crackdown on illegal immigration try to present their state as being taken over by violent immigrants that murder cops and sell drugs. If this is true, it certainly has not made its impact on reality.
#2. The El Paso Miracle
Excerpt:
"If you want to find a safe city, first determine the size of the immigrant population," says Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. "If the immigrant community represents a large proportion of the population, you're likely in one of the country's safer cities. San Diego, Laredo, El Paso—these cities are teeming with immigrants, and they're some of the safest places in the country."
So what is my solution to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border, oftentimes having to trespass on private property? Being that immigrants are a net positive to the country, let more in! Clearly, there is a large demand for immigrants and a large supply of immigrants willing to come to America. Extremely burdensome and tight restrictions on immigration has prevented the quantity supplied from matching the quantity demanded. As usual, this has created a crime (illegal immigration) out of an unobjectionable action (peacefully migrating). Allowing more legal immigrants is long overdue.
Follow me on Twitter: @AGoldenDoor
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