Criminal Immigrants in Texas in 2019: Illegal Immigrant Conviction Rates and Arrest Rates for Homicide, Sex Crimes, Larceny, and Other Crimes
“The results in this updated brief show that in Texas in 2019, illegal immigrants were 37.1 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans and legal immigrants were about 57.2 percent less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans. The conviction and arrest rates for illegal immigrants were lower than those for native-born Americans but higher than those for legal immigrants. This result holds for just about every type of crime, including homicide, sex crimes, larceny, and most other crimes.”
“Conclusion
Texas is the only state that keeps the records of the immigration statuses of those arrested and convicted of state-level crimes, thus giving the public its best opportunity to study the crime rates of illegal immigrants compared to other groups. Illegal immigrants were 27.7 percent less likely to be convicted of homicide than native-born Americans in Texas in 2019. For all crimes in Texas in 2019, illegal immigrants had a criminal conviction rate 37.1 percent below that of native-born Americans. Legal immigrants had a criminal conviction rate 57.2 percent below that of native-born Americans.”
Comparing Crime Rates Between Undocumented Immigrants, Legal Immigrants, and Native-born US Citizens in Texas
“Abstract
The study found that undocumented immigrants had substantially lower crime rates than native-born citizens and legal immigrants across a range of felony offenses. Relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes. In addition, the proportion of arrests involving undocumented immigrants in Texas was relatively stable or decreasing over this period. The differences between U.S.-born citizens and undocumented immigrants are robust to using alternative estimates of the broader undocumented population, alternate classifications of those counted as “undocumented” at arrest and substituting misdemeanors or convictions as measures of crime. (publisher abstract modified)”
But David, that is up to 2019. What about under Biden?
Illegal Immigrant Murderers in Texas, 2013–2022
Illegal Immigrant and Legal Immigrant Conviction and Arrest Rates for Homicide and Other Crimes
“Most research finds that all immigrants in the United States are less likely to commit crime or be incarcerated than native-born Americans.”
“Crime committed by illegal immigrants is an important and contentious public policy issue, but it is notoriously difficult to measure and compare their criminal conviction rates with those of other groups such as legal immigrants and native-born Americans. This policy analysis is the latest paper that attempts to resolve those data disputes by relying on detailed crime data from Texas. Over the 10-year period from 2013 to 2022, the homicide conviction rate in Texas for illegal immigrants was 2.2 per 100,000, compared to 3.0 per 100,000 for native-born Americans. The homicide conviction rate for legal immigrants in Texas was 1.2 per 100,000. Illegal immigrants were 26 percent less likely than native-born Americans to be convicted of homicide, and legal immigrants were 61 percent less likely. Criminal conviction data for crimes other than homicide are included, but readers should interpret them with caution because the quality of the data is suspect. The conviction and arrest rates of illegal and legal immigrants, separately and together, were lower than those of native-born Americans for homicide and all crimes in Texas during the 2013–2022 period.”
Texas Homicide Conviction and Arrest Rates
During the 10-year span from 2013 to 2022, the homicide conviction rate in Texas was 2.2 per 100,000 illegal immigrants, 1.2 per 100,000 legal immigrants, and 3.0 per 100,000 native-born Americans (Figure 1). Illegal immigrants were 26.2 percent less likely than native-born Americans to be convicted of homicide. Legal immigrants were 61.4 percent less likely than native-born Americans to be convicted of homicide. Over those 10 years, 472 illegal immigrants, 336 legal immigrants, and 7,109 native-born Americans were convicted of homicide in Texas. The years 2020 and 2021 show a substantial decline in the number of homicide convictions.
“In 2022, the homicide conviction rate was 3.1 per 100,000 for illegal immigrants, 1.8 per 100,000 for legal immigrants, and 4.9 per 100,000 for native-born Americans (Figure 2). A total of 1,336 people were convicted of homicide in Texas in 2022. Of those, 1,209 were native-born Americans, 67 were illegal immigrants, and 60 were legal immigrants. In 2022, homicide conviction rates for illegal immigrants and legal immigrants were 35.6 percent and 62.3 percent, respectively, below those of native-born Americans. Illegal immigrants made up about 7.1 percent of the Texas population in 2022 but accounted for only 5 percent of all people convicted of homicide. Legal immigrants made up 10.1 percent of the Texas population but accounted for only 4.5 percent of people convicted of homicide. Native-born Americans made up 82.5 percent of the Texas population but accounted for 90.5 percent of people convicted of homicide. Illegal and legal immigrants were statistically underrepresented in homicide convictions, and native-born Americans were statistically overrepresented.”
“Figure 3 shows the homicide arrest rates for each subpopulation in the 2013–2022 period. In total, 729 illegal immigrants, 765 legal immigrants, and 14,710 native-born Americans were arrested for homicide in Texas. The homicide arrest rates over the entire period are 3.4 for every 100,000 illegal immigrants, 2.6 for legal immigrants, and 6.2 for native-born Americans. Illegal immigrants were 44.8 percent less likely than native-born Americans to be arrested for homicide. Legal immigrants were 57.6 percent less likely than native-born Americans to be convicted of homicide. The homicide-conviction-to-arrest ratio for illegal immigrants is 0.65 during the 10-year period analyzed here, meaning that about 65 percent of homicide arrests of illegal immigrants led to a conviction. The conviction-to-arrest ratios for legal immigrants and native-born Americans are 0.44 and 0.48, respectively, meaning that fewer arrests of legal immigrants and native-born Americans led to homicide convictions.”
“Texas Criminal Conviction and Arrest Rates
The data on all criminal convictions and arrests in Texas are more suspect than the data for homicide because, as stated above, the TDCJ does not expend many resources investigating the immigration statuses of those convicted of relatively minor crimes. Thus, readers should skeptically interpret data on the criminal conviction and arrest rates for all crimes. Regardless, the data on all criminal conviction and arrest rates by immigration status are reported here to provide a point of comparison. During the 10-year period of 2013–2022, 145,254 illegal immigrants, 159,138 legal immigrants, and 3,113,693 native-born Americans were convicted of crimes in Texas. The criminal conviction rate over the entire period is 685 per 100,000 illegal immigrants, 551 per 100,000 legal immigrants, and 1,321 per 100,000 native-born Americans (Figure 4). Illegal immigrants were 48 percent less likely than native-born Americans to be convicted of a crime, and legal immigrants were 58 percent less likely. The results are similar for arrest rates, where illegal immigrants had an arrest rate 44 percent lower than native-born Americans, and legal immigrants had an arrest rate 53 percent lower (Figure 5).”
“Conclusion
Texas is the only state that keeps records of the immigration statuses of those arrested and convicted of state-level crimes. Policymakers can learn much by analyzing the state-level-crime data from Texas and inferring average rates of illegal and legal immigrant criminality in the rest of the United States, both nationwide and by state. Although immigrants do occasionally commit heinous crimes, they are less likely to do so than native-born Americans. This is no comfort to the victims and their loved ones, but it is information that policymakers can use to craft better immigration and anti-crime policies. Illegal immigrants and lawfully present noncitizens who commit violent or property crimes should be removed from the United States after being convicted and punished. All states should learn from Texas and adopt its method of recording the immigration statuses of those convicted and arrested. In Texas, illegal immigrants and legal immigrants are much less likely than native-born Americans to be convicted or arrested for homicide and other crimes.”
