Flawed studies ignore real impact of illegal immigration

Recently, two lengthy immigration studies were released that made headlines across California for their unbelievable claims made by the authors on the impact of illegal immigration in our state.

These so-called immigration experts at the Public Policy Institute of California and the Immigration Policy Center came to the misguided conclusion that illegal immigrants living in California actually help American workers earn higher wages, and break fewer laws than other demographic groups in our state.

When asked about his conclusions, the co-author of one of the reports, Ruben Rumbaut, told a newspaper that he hoped his work would "reduce prejudice" ---- thereby admitting his research is politically biased. The conclusions drawn by Mr. Rumbaut and his colleagues are clearly motivated much more by partisan politics than by an honest look at the effect of illegal immigration on jobs, schools, highways, hospitals and jails.

Perhaps illegal immigration is not a problem for liberal politicians or college professors, but a closer look at the statistics in our community tells a different story. Make no mistake, hardworking taxpayers across San Diego are struggling to endure the impact of illegal immigration every day, and it's time to take action to secure our borders.

In a 2005 report, researchers at the international asset management and investment firm Bear Stearns estimated that as many as 20 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, roughly 40 percent of whom are thought to live in California. It simply defies logic for the Public Policy Institute to claim that immigrant workers, most of whom work very long hours at back-breaking jobs for low wages, are not adversely affecting opportunity and prosperity for American workers.

When it comes to immigrants and crime in California, the facts speak for themselves. A 2001 study from the International Population Center at San Diego State University found that San Diego taxpayers spend a whopping $50.3 million every year just to arrest, jail and prosecute illegal immigrants and provide them with emergency medical care.

Statewide, the numbers are even more alarming. Recent figures from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation found that illegal immigrants comprise over 11 percent of the inmate population at prison facilities across the state. These undocumented criminals are adding to an overcrowding problem that has prompted an irresponsible movement for the early release of dangerous criminals.

Even worse, California will spend upward of $750 million this year to process and house illegal immigrants who commit crimes in California, costs that are supposed to be reimbursed to the state treasury under the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Unfortunately, we receive only pennies on the dollar back from the federal government, leaving state taxpayers stuck footing the bill for Washington's inability to protect our borders and keep Californians safe. We hope our bipartisan congressional delegation can work together to change that in the months ahead.

But the problems with illegal immigrants and crime are not just confined to our jails and prisons, they are being played out in our neighborhoods every day. In 2004, the North County Gang Task Force reported arresting 408 gang members who committed crimes in our community. Of that total, 260 were illegals!

We will never forget the brutal murder of our local hero Tony Zeppetella, the Oceanside police officer, husband and father who stopped a twice-deported illegal alien for a traffic violation and was gunned down in cold blood. We would invite the authors of the studies to tell the loved ones Officer Zeppetella left behind that illegal immigrants don't commit violent crimes in California.

Ideologues like Mr. Rumbaut may use name-calling; there is no doubt that it's time for lawmakers to get serious about reducing the impact of illegal immigration in our state. The burden of illegal immigration on California taxpayers is wrong. It's destructive, it undermines our economy, and it forces all of us to pay more in taxes for programs and services for those who are here illegally.

In the coming months, we hope Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature can work together to set aside politics as usual and focus on securing our borders, reducing the number of illegals in California and helping state and local governments deal with the financial impact of illegal immigrants in our communities.

Above all else, we hope our colleagues will be motivated to act based on the real world experiences of Californians affected by rampant illegal border crossings, not on flawed studies driven by a political agenda that ignores the real experiences of San Diegans in coping with illegal immigration.

Clearly Dennis Hollingsworth barely read the publication from the Public Policy Institute of California "How Immigrants Affect California Employment and Wages" as it does not address crime at all, and refers to both legal and illegal immigrants, not solely illegal immigrants.

The Immigration Policy Center report also is based on the incarceration rate of both legal and illegal immigrants lumped together (and probably ignores the rate of immigrants convicted and subsequently deported).

While these reports may both be biased in their categorization (lumping legal & illegal together), methods of data analysis, and choice of data presented (e.g. incarceration rates vs. conviction rates), I'm disappointed by the sloppy response by Mr. Hollingsworth. Attacking an ostensibly scientific statistical study with a combination of anecdotal evidence, and data related to total costs rather than per-capita costs of the population segment seems like an exercise in hot air to me. I have no doubt that a more thorough examination will point out the flaws in these studies, but this editorial is an appeal to emotion.

INS/FBI Statistical Report on Undocumented Immigrants
2006 (First Quarter) INS/FBI Statistical Report on Undocumented Immigrants
CRIME STATISTICS 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens.
86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens.
75% of those on the most wanted list in Los Angeles, Phoenix and Albuquerque are illegal aliens.
24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually
53% plus of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens.
50% plus of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border.
Pictures of most wanted in Washington DC
Pictures of top 10 most wanted in LA
71% plus of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by Illegal aliens or “transport coyotes".
47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens.
63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens
66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66% 98% are illegal aliens.
BIRTH STATISTICS 380,000 plus “anchor babies” were born in the U.S. in 2005 to illegal alien parents, making 380,000 babies automatically U.S.citizens.
97.2% of all costs incurred from those births were paid by the American taxpayers.
66% plus of all births in California are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers

The press secretary for the California Republican Party is the son of illegal aliens who came the USA 35 years ago. In this article he chronicles how in recent years there has been a massive change in the number and kind of illegals coming north. Including a crimnal element that is causing a deterioration in the quality of life of Americans. Consider this article Illegal aliens murder 12 Americans daily Death toll in 2006 far overshadows total U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan

People have been referring to the Captains Quarters as a rebuke to the assertions of the article. The Captain's Quarters makes the assertion that -- for the numbers to be true -- it would have to be the case that a small number of people were committing a lot of crimes. That is to say far outside the statistical norm for the USA. The problem is that he didn't actually check the federal stats. As it happens it is the case that illegals tend to be very repeat offenders.

Below are some government stats to back up the article's assertioms

From the FBI crime statistics * An estimated 16,692 persons were murdered nationwide in 2005, an increase of 3.4 percent from the 2004 figure. * Murder comprised 1.2 percent of the overall estimated number of violent crimes in 2005. (Based on Table 1.) * There were an estimated 5.6 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

Illegal Alien Crime Wave

On April 7, 2005, the US Justice Department issued a report on criminal aliens that were incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails. In the population study of 55,322 illegal aliens, researchers found that they were arrested at least a total of 459,614 times, averaging about 8 arrests per illegal alien. Nearly all had more than 1 arrest. Thirty-eight percent (about 21,000) had between 2 and 5 arrests, 32 percent (about 18,000) had between 6 and 10 arrests, and 26 percent (about 15,000) had 11 or more arrests. Most of the arrests occurred after 1990. They were arrested for a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses, averaging about 13 offenses per illegal alien. One arrest incident may include multiple offenses, a fact that explains why there are nearly one and half times more offenses than arrests. Almost all of these illegal aliens were arrested for more than 1 offense. Slightly more than half of the 55,322 illegal aliens had between 2 and 10 offenses.

CRIMINAL HISTORY

More than two-thirds of the defendants charged with an immigration offense were identified as having been previously arrested. Thirty-six percent had been arrested on at least 5 prior occasions; 22%, 2 to 4 times; and 12%,1 time. Sixty-one percent of those defendants had been convicted at least once; 18%, 5 or more times; 26%, 2 to 4 times; and 17%, 1 time. Of those charged, 49% had previously been convicted of a felony: 20% of a drug offense; 18%, a violent offense; and 11%, other felony offenses. Twelve percent had previously been convicted of a misdemeanor. Defendants charged with unlawful reentry had the most extensive criminal histories. Nine in ten had been previously arrested. Of those with a prior arrest, half had been arrested on at least 5 prior occasions. Fifty-six percent of those charged with a reentry offense had previously been convicted of a violent or drug-related felony. By contrast, under half of those charged with alien smuggling, a third of those charged with unlawful entry, and just over a quarter those charged with misuse of visas and other charges had previously been arrested. The criminal histories of these defendants were generally less extensive: more than 70% had been previously arrested fewer than 5 times. Sources: US Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, National Security Institute, National Association of Chiefs of Police, US Department of Justice

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