Several crimes committed by Venezuelan immigrants have taken over national media in recent weeks. Some media outlets, such as the Fox News network, have even classified this as a growing wave of crimes committed by people from Venezuela due to the border crisis and the increase in immigration from that country. How serious is this problem?
From a 15-year-old boy arrested for shooting a police officer in New York, to the arrest of an immigrant who allegedly kidnapped and murdered a young student in Georgia, to the investigation of a content creator in Florida who posted on social media about how he is unemployed but able to support himself and his family using the government benefits they receive for their baby, 2024 began with multiple reports that are affecting the perception of immigrants, in the midst of a humanitarian crisis at the border.
Currently, 6 in 10 Americans say that the thousands of immigrants seeking to enter the country at the southern border generate more crime. Additionally, 80% say the government is doing a poor job handling the influx of immigrants, according to a Pew Research Center report released February 15. What does the data say?
Relationship between immigration and crime
Like any complex social phenomenon, there are multiple factors that are influencing the current humanitarian border crisis. However, in an election year, this problem tends to be magnified for electoral purposes, which can alter perception.
While there are undoubtedly cases of immigrants coming to the United States to commit crimes, statistics suggest that they are actually an exception. This was the finding of researchers Charis Kubrin and Graham Ousey, who analyzed numerous studies on this subject over decades. They are the authors of the book “Immigration and Crime: Taking Stock.”
“The most common finding across all these different kinds of studies is that immigration to an area is either not associated with crime in that area or is negatively associated with crime in that area. Meaning more immigration equals less crime. It’s rare to find studies that show crime following increases in immigration,” Kubrin told CNN.
According to researchers, one of the reasons for the low crime rate among immigrants is that this community knows that they can be deported if they commit a crime, which is a powerful incentive to stay out of trouble.
In February, the New York Daily News analyzed crime rates in areas of New York that have migrant shelters and was surprised to find that crime decreased this year compared to the same period last year in the majority of categories.
Sensationalism to create prejudice
Sensationalizing an issue for electoral purposes is problematic, as it can affect the perception of reality. Let’s look at an example.
The International Air Transport Association reported that there was only one major aviation accident for every 7.7 million flights in 2021. On average, a person would need to take a flight every day for 10,078 years to be involved in an accident with at least one fatality, according to the report. The chances of dying in a car accident are 1 in 107, yet every time there is a serious plane accident, it becomes world news for several weeks and generates fear of air travel.
Of course, border security must be strengthened. We also need to address the problems in these immigrants’ countries of origin, since these problems are the reason people emigrate in the first place. In addition, we absolutely have the obligation to report immigrants who commit crimes. Nonetheless, it is not acceptable to spread prejudice against immigrants by simply drawing attention to a few bad cases.