Immigrants and Crime -- Myths dispelled

To so many of my friends, our Utah Legislators, and some family members the myth of the undocumented committing crimes here in the US is without basis. Today's San Jose Mercury News carries an article of a study done by the Public Policy Institute of California. This study suggests that California's foreign-born population which makes up more than a third of the state's adults has a disproportionately small role in serious crime.

Seems these folks are here to work and staying out of trouble with the law is their goal. Among their findings:

"Foreign-born men make up about 35 percent of the state's adult male population, but they make up roughly 17 percent of the state's overall prison inmates.

U.S.-born men are jailed in state prisons at a rate more than three times higher than foreign-born men, and they are 10 times more likely to land behind bars.

Male Mexican nationals ages 18 to 40 -- those more likely to have entered the country illegally -- are more than eight times less likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to be imprisoned.

Those who entered the country when they were 1 year old or younger make up about 0.8 percent of those institutionalized.
The low crime rate among foreign-born Californians can be seen in the crime tallies for cities such as Burbank, Glendale and Norwalk, which large proportions of the state's immigrant population call home.

From 2000 to 2005, those cities experienced crime dips far greater than cities with smaller immigrant populations.
Butcher said the report shows, among other things, that "spending more money to increase penalties against criminal immigrants will have little impact on public safety."

So if you have been one of many perpetuating these bigoted myths maybe it is time to step back and change your views.