Immigrants 'Significantly Less Likely' To Commit Crimes Than US-Born

Immigrants are "significantly less likely" to commit crimes than those born in the United States, research has found.

The study, led by economist Elisa Jácome of Northwestern University, looked at U.S. Census incarceration data over the 150 year-period from 1850 to 2020.

"Our study shows that since 1870, it has never been the case that immigrants as a group have been more incarcerated than the U.S.-born," Jácome said in a statement.

The study challenges the belief expressed by some that immigrants pose a criminal threat to American society.

As the researchers note, former president Donald Trump placed emphasis on such concerns in the context of immigration across the U.S.–Mexico border.

The study highlights a 2015 Trump speech launching his presidential campaign, in which the former president said that Mexican immigrants were "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists".

Averaging over the 150-year-period analyzed in the study, the researchers found that the incarceration rate of immigrants to America was only slightly lower than their US-born counterparts.

However, recent years have seen the gap between the two groups widen—with immigrants 60 percent less likely to be incarcerated than U.S. born citizens.

This shift, the study reported, was found among "all major sending regions".

"A surprising finding was the extent to which immigrants with lower levels of education today are significantly less likely to commit crimes than their U.S.-born counterparts," Jácome said.

The researchers believe that this transition, which began in 1960, is connected to both globalization and technological changes.

The study notes that despite the higher chances that immigrants have low levels of education, they have also "remained relatively shielded from the social and economic forces that negatively affected less-educated US-born men."

Because of this, the team added, immigrants would be "expected to enjoy better outcomes along several dimensions. including but not limited to incarceration rates".

The team said they would like policymakers to consider their findings, when discussing issues relating to immigration.

"The impact of immigration on the economy is a multifaceted topic, and crime is just one of the factors," said Jácome.

"To get a holistic picture, policymakers should also account for research, invention and services that are being provided because of immigrants.

"To the extent you want to make a cost-benefit statement about immigration, you must also look at benefits lost if immigration was reduced."

The full findings of the study have been published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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