Immigration and crime rates in the united states

There have been debates on the security and safety concerns of Americans. The president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, argues that illegal immigrants, mainly from Mexico, are bringing drugs and crime into the country. He adds that although some of the immigrants are good people, others are rapists and murderers. Studies by Michael light and Ty Miller indicate that people overestimate the association of crime and immigration (Light & Miller, 2018). Therefore, I argue that immigration does not increase the crime rate in the United States of America. It can, however, be attributed to the fact that immigrants have more to lose than native-born Americans. They will, therefore, stop themselves from committing crimes because they know that they can quickly be deported.

While crime rates among immigrant communities decrease, they increase among Americans. Although cases of immigration are increasing each year, violent crimes have reduced significantly since 1980 (Adelman, Reid, Markle, Weiss & Jaret, 2017). Many Americans are more likely to face arrest and conviction more than the other Americans by a fifty percent rate (Harris & Gruenewald, 2019). There are also many false stereotypes of immigrants that it is only fair that people believe them. In addition to false stereotyping, many immigrants found committing crimes are locked away or deported back to their countries of origin (Adelman, Reid, Markle, Weiss & Jaret, 2017). Therefore, many of them will abstain from committing crimes for fear of being deported or being locked away for years. This will defeat the purpose of them migrating to the United States in the first place.

This abstinence can explain the decrease in the rates of crime among the immigrant groups. Texas is chosen for study because it borders Mexico, has a high number of immigrants, and it is a state known to impose strict rules and regulations when it comes to laws. It is also a republican- governed state. The rate of convictions for crimes like sex crimes, murder, larceny, and homicide are lower for immigrants than forAmericans. In addition to this, research shows that the rate of crime along the border between Mexico and Texas is low compared to that of the rest of the country (Adelman et al. Many studies have similar results to the studies done in Texas, showing that high illegal immigration does not lead to an increase in the rate of crimes.

Besides, immigration puts a strain on Americans in the form of job opportunities and housing opportunities. This will leave many Americans with no option but to resort to crime and other related behaviors to cater for basic needs and other utilities. Illegal immigration is a crime in itself. Therefore, it is safe to say that immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, are committing crimes. Illegal immigration implicates so many policies and systems in the United States; for instance, illegal immigrants will live undocumented in the country, and they will work illegally (Zatz & Smith, 2012). This explains why immigration is “associated” with a crime after looking at the numbers of foreigners in the prisons in the United States. References Adelman, R. M. , Kubrin, C. E.