Reuters is a “news” organization that thinks that there is no such thing as terrorism and that Israel is always in the wrong so I guess the baloney below is to be expected. Fortunately, lots of Americans know from their own experience that heavily Hispanic areas of their cities are also high-crime areas. It’s mostly because of the youth gangs formed by the children of the illegals (See here) but the end result is the same: Allowing illegals to settle leads to unsafe neighborhoods.
I reproduce the Reuters report in full below. The whole thing is just epidemiological speculation — claiming that because two things happened at the same time then one caused the other. But a Harvard sociologist cannot of course be expected to know one of the most basic principles of statistics: That correlation is not causation. The claim that crime dropped because more illegals came in is just crazy
Contrary to common beliefs, rising immigration levels do not drive up crime rates, particularly in poor communities, and Mexican-Americans are the least likely to commit crimes, according to a new study. Robert Sampson, a sociologist at Harvard University who studied crime and immigration in 180 neighborhoods in Chicago over seven years, found that first-generation immigrants were 45 percent less likely to commit violent acts than third generation Americans. “Immigrants have lower rates of crime and there is a negative correlation between the trends,” Sampson said in an interview.
The study, which is published Contexts, a journal of the American Sociological Association, showed that incentive to work, ambition and a desire not to be deported were common reasons cited for first generation immigrants, especially Mexicans, not to commit crimes.
Sampson also studied data from police records, the U.S Census and surveyed more than 8,000 Chicago residents. The study showed there was significant immigration growth, including illegal aliens-in the mid-1990s, peaking at the end of the decade. But during that time the national homicide rate plunged. [But was it due to illegals being law-abiding? Or was it due to more law-enforcement -- such as more bad guys being locked up for longer? Correlation is not causation] Crime also dropped in immigration hot spots [Dropped from what level? From very high to high?, such as Los Angeles, where it fell 45 percent overall, San Jose, Dallas and Phoenix.
Sampson argues that public perception drives a large part of the debate so its easy for politicians to blame illegal immigration for driving up the crime rate. Although it is difficult to point to any data to substantiate it, not many people question it. “There is a pretty powerful underlying current of belief in society that is pretty resistant, stubborn if you will to the facts,” Sampson said.
March 21, 2008 at 1:20 am
Well, you talk about baloney, Reuter talks about a scientific study. It becomes pretty clear that you are only interested in your opinion that is based on what you want to believe.
You ‘guess’ and you assume wrongfully for all americans what they think. Speak for yourself and not the american people. You don’t know what we think. You ‘guess’ and assume what you think!
From ‘very high to high’ you ask? What part of 45 percent overall don’t you understand? Who the heck was your teacher? Or are you a complete idiot?