Facts show immigrants don't deserve crime blame

This report shows that illegal immigrants commit crimes at the same rate as the rest of us. DP

Suntimes Opinion Piece

suntimes.com: Illegal immigrants get blamed for everything: rape, murder, robbery, you name it.

They are actually quite law-biding, as much as the rest of us, a Sun-Times report reveals.

They account for about 3 percent of the state's population and an equal percentage of inmates in Cook County jails. Less than 4 percent of adults in Illinois prisons have been identified as illegal immigrants.

The perception holds that more illegal immigrants equals more crime. That view is bolstered by lies told by anti-illegal immigrant groups like the Minutemen. They claim 64,000 U.S. citizens have been killed by illegal immigrants since Sept. 11, 2001. That would mean more than half the murders in the United States have been committed by illegal immigrants.

Besides, the numbers don't add up. The FBI doesn't even track the data of offenders or victims based on their citizenship status. The data does show that nearly half of those arrested for murder or non-negligent manslaughter in 2006 were white. Only 1 percent of "criminal aliens" were in jail for murder in 2005, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Sadly, people tend to believe this anti-immigrant hype. They always have. One recent survey found most Americans believe immigrants boost crime. These same claims have been hurled at the Irish, Italians and Chinese at some point in America's history. Today we scapegoat Mexicans.

We don't blame all middle-age white guys for the crimes of John Wayne Gacy. We don't blame all black men for John Allen Muhammad's Beltway sniper-fest. We shouldn't blame all illegal immigrants, either.