Law-abiding Immigrants Welcome – Illegal Aliens Must Go



The New York Times (NYT) on January 13 carried an article entitled “Research Doesn’t Back a Link Between Migrants and Crime in U.S.” The writer based his slanted claim on research by immigration boosters Ruben Rumbaut, a UC-Irvine sociology professor, and Walter Ewing of the American Immigration Council. Their finding, cited in the NYT article was, “most immigrants are law-abiding.”

That is not a new finding – the authors published it in 2007, so it certainly is not news. But it tends to validate the growing perception that the NYT has gone all in with their defense of non-enforcement of the current immigration law and efforts to increase immigration.

The NYT article, like the 2007 finding is virtually meaningless as well as deceptive. It is meaningless for two reasons:

  • Legally admitted immigrants are screened to prevent the arrival of those with criminal histories and those who might be tempted to resort to crime because of poverty.
  • Immigrants who are convicted of felonies are generally deported. Thus, there is a major deterrent to committing a crime, and those who are deported are removed from possible recidivism.

It is deceptive because nowhere in the article is there any mention of illegal aliens or the rate of criminal activity among them. Illegal aliens are not prevented entry as a result of a criminal history, and many are apprehended in the process of criminal activity such as smuggling narcotics. The gangs of young aliens in urban areas are often comprised of illegal aliens.

Because the bulk of immigrants in the country entered legally, even if crime data on the illegal aliens is combined with crime data on the legal immigrants, the crime rate is less than for the general public. But FAIR’s 2007 study on crime data for illegal aliens demonstrates the significantly higher crime rate among this population that the NYT wants us to believe are simply coming for a job.

The moral is that our immigration policy should be focused on assuring that only law-abiding immigrants – those who come legally – are allowed to enter, and that those who break the law to enter or stay are swiftly removed before they can break any other law. 

About Author

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Jack, who joined FAIR’s National Board of Advisors in 2017, is a retired U.S. diplomat with consular experience. He has testified before the U.S. Congress, U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform and has authored studies of immigration issues. His national and international print, TV, and talk radio experience is extensive (including in Spanish).

16 Comments

  1. avatar

    you say

    “The moral is that our immigration policy should be focused on assuring that only law-abiding immigrants – those who come legally – are allowed to enter, and that those who break the law to enter or stay are swiftly removed before they can break any other law. ”

    You just ask why? who is at fault

    ANSWER:

    We The People so now we punish them after we abuse them and take advantage of them so UNAMERICAN!!

    • avatar

      You ask who is at fault ? The illegals who sneak across the border! (and spit in the faces of those how obey the law)

  2. avatar

    “ICE Director Saldaña Admits Dramatic Decline in Criminal Alien Deportations

    Testifying last week before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on the Obama administration’s lax interior enforcement policies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah Saldaña admitted a dramatic decline in criminal alien deportations. ….Sessions was not satisfied, noting that her agency’s budget for deportation was increased from $2.6 billion in 2011 to $3.4 billion this year, and that the government even returned part of that allotment. (Id.) Summing up the hearing, Sessions said the decline in removals
    “demonstrated the failure of our system, when the one area that we were
    promised was going to be aggressively pursued was criminal aliens, and
    that is plummeting also. So there’s nothing really working effectively.”

    http://www.c-span.org/video/?401468-1/hearing-unaccompanied-immigrant-children-sponsor-background-checks

  3. avatar

    Time to make illegal entry a felony with mandatory 5 years in prison……….end birthright citizenship……..resolve the dumbest law we have on the book………born here………….not a citizen unless you parents are………

    you are a citizen of the country they are………

    Time out on immigration………we are third most populated country in the world…………whey the hell do we need more people? OH…….I KNOW………to make and buy the products so companies can have larger sales of goods every year……Now that makes a lot of nonsense…….

      • avatar

        HAHAHAHHAHAHA,…..they have been here for 20 years+…..it was not breaking the law before and the people liked it and did not care….NOW DEAL WITH IT>>>…..

    • avatar

      The less we have to spend on incarcerating these criminals the better. Once we gained a secure border, I would say deport them all, let them deal with the systems back in their own country. The people there would shun them too. But we can’t have an international criminal class that we have to support.

  4. avatar
    NotThatStupidYet on

    I am confused, aren’t they already criminals if they did not enter the country legally, or overstayed their Visa?

    • avatar
      Dems Trump-Carson on

      Your comment made me chuckle heartedly, albeit with grave disquietness!

      With states failing to assist the federal government even in its grossly feeble attempts to deport illegally present aliens, the recent words of a Latino comedian about his community in the U.S.–“WE ain’t goin’ NO-where!”–ring all too true, especially under the present administration [policies that both H.Clinton & B.Sanders promise to continue].

      For the remainder of us who are aghast from the disturbing and disingenuous failures of this current administration to enforce laws on immigration, our best hope is “Trump for President”, with the prayer that–unfettered by private financial support–he WILL keep his promise to round them up, send them home, and protect our borders!!

      As a Democrat, I see the problems of unbridled immigration as both a NONpartisan issue and a heartfelt concern for our country (the U.S.A.), so I stand firm as a Democrat for Trump-Carson! (Join us on Facebook)