Posted on 04/13/2008 3:39:42 AM PDT by RU88
U.S. citizens are twice as likely to land in New Jersey's prisons as legal and illegal immigrants.
The statistics fall directly in line with several other new studies by sociologists that consistently have found the immigrant incarceration rates equal or lower to that of U.S. citizens. The findings contradict one long-held conception about immigrants and crime.
The New Jersey statistics also come to light at a significant juncture, as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeks to give local police departments a greater role in enforcing immigration laws in New Jersey and across the country.
"I first got into this because I heard all these terrible complaints that immigrants were a big part of the crime problem," said Anne Morrison Piehl, an economics professor at Rutgers University who has researched incarceration rates among immigrants in California.
"When you look at incarceration rates, you find immigrants much less likely than the native born to be incarcerated," Piehl added. "Once you control for the fact that immigrants are generally younger and less educated, then the data you find is even more surprising."
MYTH OR REALITY?
ÂImmigrant advocates say the numbers are proof that the "illegal immigrant crime wave" touted by anti-immigration groups on television and the internet is more myth than reality.
Several high-profile crimes committed by illegal immigrants, including the slaying of four college students in a Newark schoolyard last August, have fueled such misperceptions, they added.
"It's popular fiction -- and the important word is fiction," said Shai Goldstein, Executive Director of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network. "It has no foundation in reality as do most of the anti-immigrant arguments which are based on either misperceptions or outright bigotry and sometimes both."
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Trust-me-this-one-is-gonna-make-your-head-explode PING.
Strikes me as self evident. If they've broken the law to be here, then they are criminals whether incarcerated or not.
In point of fact I'm very pro-immigration, just anti illegal immigration.
“U.S. citizens are twice as likely to land in New Jersey’s prisons as legal and illegal immigrants.”
Legal immigrants are not the issue. Due a study that compares exclusively to illegal immigrants and get back to us.
Note that the statement the premise is built upon is comparing “Non-U.S. citizens” to U.S. citizens. This is much different that comparing illegals vs citizens/legals. So, I would personally not give this article and the study it's quoting much validity...
Unbelievable. (Shakes head)
The government cant even keep track of illegal aliens here. I have a better idea to test the paper’s theory: the reporter should walk around the illegal aliens’ neighborhoods and see what happens.
I just sent the following letter to Brian Donohue of the Star-Ledger:
Dear Sir:
The article on the incarceration of immigrants is completely bogus and misleading, a perfect example of the aphorism that “statistics don’t lie, but statisticians do.”
I have a degree in applied mathematics from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and I have never seen such a ridiculous misuse of data. The statistics compare incarceration rates of citizens vs. non-citizens (legal plus illegal) but the conclusions drawn compare the rates of citizens to illegals. That is nonsense!
Let me illustrate my point:
Suppose, out of every 100 people in the population, 80 are citizens, 19 are legal immigrants,and 1 is an illegal immigrant.
Suppose, further, that 4 of the citizens are in prison, NONE of the legal immigrants are in prison, and ALL of the illegal immigrants are in prison.
An accurate study would show the following incarceration rates:
Citizens—4/80=5%
Legal Immigrants—0/19=0%
Illegal Immigrants—1/1=100%
Of course, the study you cite would conflate the two classes of immigrants, to come up with:
Citizen incarceration rate—5%
Immigrant incarceration rate—1/20=5%
and trumpet to the heavens that illegal immigrants are no more likely to commit crimes than citizens, which would be a completely false conclusion.
(Signature)
and we stupid taxpayers...keep paying and paying so that we have NO rights while these ILLEGALS are guarenteed their rights!!!
It says that illegals are less likely to land in prison. It DOESN’T say that illegals are less likely to commit crimes. This “study” is just the latest load of cr*p from the left.
What percentage of ILLEGAL ALIENS are criminals??
100% is one accepts the fact that entering this country illegally is a crime and of itself.
Big fallacy.
Immigrants have been in the country for a short time.
Native-born have been in the country for their entire lives.
Immigrants have not had as much time to commit as many crimes as native-born. Immigrants often go back home for a while.
The study is invalid.
Does this mean that NJ doesn't lock up "immigrant" lawbreakers or that some how being a US citizen in NJ is a punishable offence?
How would the prison know if the inmate is here illegally as New Jersey is a sanctuary state where law enforcement were prohibited from asking residency status?
If it were any other demographic sector, they'd be yelling "prejudice," "profiling," etc.
When the sample size won’t fit your predetermined outcome, just increase the sample size to include populations outside the geographic boundaries of the problem areas.
The state of NJ is too large a sample group, the study authors knew this, it is the reason they used statewide statistics instead of statistics from Passaic, Union, Essex or Hudson counties.
Passaic county Jail system gen pop is over 15% illegal alien now, at one point is was over 30% before the FEds stopped housing deportation cases there on room and board contracts. Essex is over 12%,
Hudson has to be a greater number, the number of illegal aliens in the county is almost 15% of the population.
The study authors purposely included wealthy counties without large immigrant populations instead of using the regularly understood “gateway” communities that have actual problems with illegal alien crime.
The statistical trickery is elitism in it’s ugliest form of classism and racism, especially considering that gateway community studies is well documented in Rutger’s sociology dept and other universities in New Jersey.
Bingo! We have a winner!
This is an excellent example of the truism “There are three kinds of liars - liars, damn liars and statisticians.”
What they don’t get is that even ONE illegal in our system is one too many- they aren’t supposed to be here-period!!
I resent every penny spent on illegals, and I resent every death caused by them- they aren’t supposed to be here!
Another thing not taken into account is many of the criminals are only citizens because mama illegally crossed to have them- so they are counted as citizens in any survey, even if they have lived in Mexico, as Mexicans and bounce back and forth across the border with their illegal family.
The problem is not how many illegals commit crimes, the problem is our system is bursting and the illegals should not be part of the system at all. They should not be here to commit crimes and receive handouts. Medical care, prisons, social services, schools, etc. would not be so overwhelmed if the illegals were not in the mix.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.