March 2, 2007

Immigration and crime — disastrous new study

Just a quick debunking of a recent research report that has been widely misrepresented in the press. The study is: "Debunking the Myth of Immigrant Criminality: Imprisonment Among First- and Second-Generation Young Men" by Ruben G. Rumbaut, Roberto G. Gonzales, Golnaz Komaie, and Charlie V. Morgan, University of California, Irvine

The take-home message of the article is that Hispanics in the USA have a LOW rate of criminality. That is however, not at all what the article shows. Have a look at their Table 1 and you will see what most people know already — that Hispanics lie in between blacks and whites in crime-rate.

Table 1. Percent of Males 18 to 39 Incarcerated in the United States, 2000, by Nativity and Level of Education, in Rank Order by Ethnicity

Males, ages 18 to 39: Percent incarcerated, by nativity and by education: Ethnicity Total in US N Percent incarcerated % Nativity: High school graduate? Foreign-born % U.S. born % No % Yes % Total: 45,200,417 3.04 0.86 3.51 6.91 2.00 Latin American Ethnicities: Salvadoran, Guatemalan 433,828 0.68 0.52 3.01 0.71 0.62 Colombian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian 283,599 1.07 0.80 2.37 2.12 0.74 Mexican 5,017,431 2.71 0.70 5.90 2.84 2.55 Dominican 182,303 2.76 2.51 3.71 4.62 1.39 Cuban 213,302 3.01 2.22 4.20 5.22 2.29 Puerto Rican (a) 642,106 5.06 4.55 5.37 10.48 2.41 Asian Ethnicities: Indian 393,621 0.22 0.11 0.99 1.20 0.14 Chinese, Taiwanese 439,086 0.28 0.18 0.65 1.35 0.14 Korean 184,238 0.38 0.26 0.93 0.93 0.34 Filipino 297,011 0.64 0.38 1.22 2.71 0.41 Vietnamese 229,735 0.89 0.46 5.60 1.88 0.55 Laotian, Cambodian 89,864 1.65 0.92 7.26 2.80 1.04 Other: White, non-Hispanic 29,014,261 1.66 0.57 1.71 4.64 1.20 Black, non-Hispanic 5,453,546 10.87 2.47 11.61 21.33 7.09 Note: (a) Island-born Puerto Ricans, who are US citizens by birth and not immigrants, are classified as "foreign born" for purposes of this table; mainland-born Puerto Ricans are here classified under "U.S. born." Source: 2000 U.S. Census, 5% PUMS. Data are estimates for adult males, ages 18 to 39, institutionalized at the time of the census.

The only novelty of the article is this: It points out that it is the CHILDREN of the illegals who are the problem. The illegals themselves are too busy earning money to be much involved with crime.

This is of course VERY bad news — as it is conventionally assumed that the children of immigrants will adopt the characteristics of the host society.

The ECONOMIC advantages of immigration must therefore be balanced against the SOCIAL disadvantages of allowing in on a permanent basis such a troublesome group.

The study is being hailed as good news for the pro-immigrant camp. It is very much the reverse.





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