IMMIGRANTS & CRIMEWhy Do Illegal Immigrants Have a Low Crime Rate? 12 Possible Explanations
The evidence is overwhelming that immigrants in the United States have had a lower crime rate than native-born Americans since at least the 19th century. When people learn that fact, they aren’t surprised that legal immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans, but they are surprised that it’s also true for illegal immigrants.
The evidence is overwhelming that immigrants in the United States have had a lower crime rate than native-born Americans since at least the 19th century. When people learn that fact, they aren’t surprised that legal immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans, but they are surprised that it’s also true for illegal immigrants. The follow-up question people ask is, “Why do illegal immigrants have low crime rates?” It’s a good question.
After all, illegal immigrants broke immigration laws when they entered or overstayed, and they tend to be younger, male, less educated, have lower wages, and are members of ethnic or racial groups that tend to have higher crime rates among native-born Americans. Thus, it’s understandable why people are perplexed about why illegal immigrants have a lower crime rate in the United States. That’s where theories of crime come in.
Theories can help interpret or explain results, guide research design, help make predictions, and reconcile multiple findings. Listing these theories can help answer the question of why illegal immigrants and other immigrants have a lower crime rate in the United States. You should notice that many of the theories below contradict each other, and some are likely entirely false, but several could be partial explanations.
Professors Charis Kubrin and Graham Ousey have a short guide to these theories in a recent book on immigrant crime, but I will add a few more. I’m partial to theories 1–3, but there are plausible cases for others too.
Theories That Can Explain the Illegal Immigrant-Native Crime Difference
1. Comparison group effect: Native-born Americans commit more crime than residents of any other developed country and several less developed countries. Illegal immigrants who come here are much less crime-prone by comparison. Even immigrants in Europe, where immigrants tend to have a higher crime rate than native-born Europeans, would have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans if they came here instead. Illegal immigrants are just law-abiding by comparison.
2. Selection effects: Legal and illegal immigrants tend to think about the future, which is why they incurred a large cost to immigrate in the first place. The present value of work in the United States is greater than work in another country, so they made the investment to come here. People who tend to think about the future commit fewer crimes and have more self-control.
