A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report claims many unauthorized immigrants identified, but not deported, under the Secure Communities (SCOMM) program went on to be re-arrested for other crimes. The CRS report's findings, however, are not a secure basis for any policy conclusions concerning immigration.
Representative Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) asked the CRS to compile this data, "in order to inform Congress on the problem of criminal immigrants and their effect on public safety." To judge the impact of criminal immigrants we need to compare their criminality to the rest of American society. If immigrants are less likely to become criminals, then they lower the crime rate. If they are more likely to become criminals, then they would raise the crime rate. The CRS report does not include that relevant data in its report.
SCOMM is a federal immigration enforcement program that checks fingerprint records of arrestees against immigration and criminal databases. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issues detainers for suspected unauthorized immigrants, requesting that local police departments either release the arrestee into ICE custody or hold them until ICE can pick up the arrestee.
Unauthorized immigrants identified by SCOMM have to first come into contact with the police and then be arrested. Many times the police arrest the wrong people, arrest two sides in a domestic dispute, or are just plain incompetent and arrest innocent people. This is an obvious point, but on average people who are arrested are more likely to be violent or property criminals than the rest of the population.
The CRS report, therefore, is measuring a subset of unauthorized immigrants who are more likely to actually be criminals than other unauthorized immigrants, natives, or just about anybody else who does not get arrested. To explain it further, the CRS report has created two filters to separate criminal unauthorized immigrants from non-criminal unauthorized immigrants.
The first filter is police contact. Arrested unauthorized immigrants are more likely to be criminals than non-arrested unauthorized immigrants. The second filter is a re-arrest. Unauthorized immigrants re-arrested within a few years of their initial arrest are even more likely to be criminals than the first group. CRS identifies 16.58% of initial arrestees who are then re-arrested within three years. That is a double filter to isolate criminality.
According to the CRS report, the re-arrest rate for unauthorized immigrants was 16.58%, meaning that 16.58% of unauthorized immigrants would be arrested at least twice in the three year period studied in the government report. Identical statistics for the rest of the population do not exist, so we have no way to judge whether unauthorized immigrants have a comparatively high or a low rate of recidivism. Without that yardstick for comparison, the results of the CRS report are not particularly informative.
The best and most recent data I have been able to find is the re-arrest rate for former prisoners released from jail in 1994. The recidivism rate for former prisoners three years after their release was 67.5% - four times greater than the re-arrest rate for unauthorized immigrants recorded in the CRS report.
My analysis is not an apples to apples comparison, so this rough calculation is subject to various caveats. The CRS and I use different, albeit similar, categories. Data do not exist on the arrest and re-arrest rate for the rest of the population, so a precise comparison does not seem possible. I could have overlooked some data, so if data on the native rate of re-arrests exists a better comparison would be possible and we can delve deeper into the statistics.
Immigrants, regardless of immigration status, seem to be much less likely than natives to be convicted of property or violent crimes according to a wealth of studies on the topic. Cities with higher numbers of immigrants and that are closer to the southern border are more peaceful and less crime prone. It is possible to hypothesize that immigrants are attracted to low crime rates, they don't cause them. While that is true, after they move to these cities in large numbers the crime rates continue to fall. There is no evidence of an immigrant crime wave.
None of this is meant to excuse the violent and property crimes committed by anybody, immigrant or otherwise. They should be punished for their violent and property crimes like everybody else. But the CRS report details crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants filtered through at least two levels of law enforcement with no comparison to the rest of the population. That is no foundation for policy making.
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So I have to ask, in terms of "illegal immigrant" laws, why does everyone think that Mexicans, in particular, should follow them?
If a gang banger from Compton kicks open your Nan's front door, has her sign the deed over to the gang banger, takes all of her money, and then murders her, that is a crime.
If the gang banger is then elected to city council and helps create laws to make sure Nan's family never gets their property back-that is considered "legal."
What makes anyone think Nan's family is "ever" going to accept that?
Stack all the paperwork you want and make all the excuses you feel are necessary but bad immigration law needs to be amended and the creators of bad immigration laws need to be jobless.
People will never respect a law that they know to be corrupt. There is no way to ever make these types of crimes rechristened as illegal immigrant laws "legal."
If this were about YOUR grandma would you stay away? Of course not. Either look at the laws realistically and change them or expect this type of stuff to keep happen.
Natually the Government research will convey exactly what the Adminstrations want it to. We all know that Obama cares little about immigration laws and is abusing his authority by punishing the US citizens enforcing these laws and granting amnesty to 10's of thousands through his office subverting to law and the will of the people.
Often it takes all i have to not give a verbal smackdown, but then again for those who have not been farther south than Miami, or farther north than Maine or West of Cali i overstand. I secretly laugh and proudly proceed to educate them. With my proverbial smackdown
For those of my culture who live in Fla, this racism was most felt this past Feb 27th with the execution of 17 yr old Trayvon Martin, at the hands of a wanna be cop who refused to listen to suggestions.
.Nothing previous was worse than when the Bushwacker who arrived in a plane over New Orleans after Katrina, and watched as adults both elder and younger perished from neglect..Guess who helped most? Now bring ya sillys and prepare for a smackdown
Illegals are here to ekk out a living, and not to commit violent crime.
In fact, if you watch any number of crime and police programs that are based on true events, you will find that illegals are usually the VICTIMS of violent crime, not the PERPETRATORS.
Illegals are usually paid in cash, have no bank accounts, and are basically "sitting ducks" for criminals who are U.S. citizens.
These criminals purposely target illegals, make it a point to know when they get paid, and basically stalk them for an easy violent assault and robbery. Sometimes, the illegals are murdered by these American citizen criminals.
These American predators know the illegals won't go to the authorities for help, fearing they will be deported.
I guess the Cato Institute's apologist for open borders and unlimited immigration believe that they are clever enough to get all of the benefits of open borders and unlimited immigration such as cheaper servants and lower labor costs while avoiding the higher costs due to higher insurance, higher real estate prices in good neighborhoods, private schools, more sprawl, more traffic, and more crime.
Fortunately here in the US our constitution protects our right to lie and refer to it as journalism, even if it is pure propaganda from any source.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_News_Network
Once again we have more pronounced lies of ignorance from the HP class of alleged social Geniuses. Sun "TV" News has nor had any affiliation to fox news, nor is/was it banned throughout the Provinces of Canada. It just makes an entire new Generation of American idiots and liars feel good about themselves.
These truths can only set you free from those mental illnesses sustaining a lifetime of bitterness, and hateful ideologies, when reality is embraced, often painfully. I reiterate NO Canadian Politician/citizen would support spending our taxes blocking America news in Canada. That insanity is purely an American Value of Social minority dominance, coupled with mandatory legalized censorship.
Canada is judicious with civilized speech on all college campuses: nobody fears TV news or Conservative opinions. Canada continually thrives, while America still struggles to survive
News Corp. has Never applied for a Canadian License "joint venture" so your ignorance continues espousing serious delusions. Most Canadian's laugh at this ignorance and contemplate why so many Americans refuse repaying their college loans.
Canadian law is designed respecting all Sovereignties and citizens, something America is world renowned disrespecting "legal loopholes" for politics and power
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/crtc-plan-to-lift-ban-on-false-news-prompts-political-investigation/article1898147/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._v._Zundel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States