Myth: Immigrants Cause an Increase in both Violent Crimes and Property Crimes
Multiple government studies — including research from the conservative Cato Institute and Texas Department of Public Safety data — show that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, commit crimes at substantially lower rates than native-born U.S. citizens.
“"Immigrants — especially undocumented ones — bring violent crime into our communities. They are more dangerous than American citizens."”
Research from the Cato Institute, the National Academy of Sciences, and state-level criminal justice data consistently shows immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born U.S. citizens — including violent crime. This holds for both legal and undocumented immigrants.
The claim that immigrants bring crime is one of the most thoroughly studied and consistently debunked propositions in social science. The evidence comes not from advocacy groups but from government data, state criminal justice systems, and research institutions across the ideological spectrum.
A 2020 study by the Cato Institute — a libertarian think tank, not a liberal one — analyzed Texas Department of Public Safety criminal conviction data and found that undocumented immigrants were 45% less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born U.S. citizens. Legal immigrants were 79% less likely. Texas is particularly useful for this analysis because it maintains some of the most detailed immigrant crime tracking data in the country.
The National Academy of Sciences published a comprehensive 2015 report on immigrant integration and found that first-generation immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans across all national origin groups. This pattern persists regardless of the country of origin, legal status, or economic conditions in the destination community.
Researchers have identified several reasons for lower immigrant crime rates. First, immigrants face a uniquely severe consequence for criminal activity — deportation and permanent separation from family — that creates a powerful deterrent absent for citizens. Second, the immigration process itself involves a degree of self-selection: people willing to undertake the difficulty of immigration typically have strong economic motivation and long time horizons, traits associated with law-abiding behavior. Third, many undocumented immigrants avoid contact with law enforcement entirely, even as crime victims, out of fear of deportation.
Studies that examine crime rates at the community level rather than the individual level reach the same conclusion. Areas with higher concentrations of immigrants — including undocumented immigrants — do not show elevated crime rates. In many cases, high-immigration cities show lower violent crime rates than comparable low-immigration cities. The claim is not supported by the data at any level of analysis.
Undocumented immigrants in Texas were 45% less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born U.S. citizens (Cato Institute, 2020 Texas DPS data)
Legal immigrants in Texas were 79% less likely to be convicted than native-born citizens in the same study
The National Academy of Sciences (2015) found first-generation immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans across all national origin groups
Higher immigration at the community level is not associated with higher crime rates — and is often associated with lower rates
The fear of deportation creates a powerful deterrent to criminal activity that citizens do not face
Sources
Comprehensive analysis of Texas Department of Public Safety criminal conviction data comparing conviction rates by immigration status. Found undocumented immigrants 45% less likely and legal immigrants 79% less likely to be convicted than native-born citizens.
Major National Academies report on immigration research, finding that first-generation immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans across all national origin groups studied.
Summary of decades of academic research on immigration and crime rates, covering both individual-level and community-level studies.