[QUOTE=EcksDee;51809342]The GAO paper includes all immigrants in their definition of "criminal alien", not just illegal ones, so that inflates the number and means it can't be compared to the general population at large.[/QUOTE]
You are absolutely correct. Previously I had used DoJ conviction statistics to make the comparison, so when I turned to the GAO stats I missed that distinction. My bolded comparisons are absolutely inaccurate with that taken into consideration, I screwed up and I'll own up to it.
However, the studies that show low levels of criminality among the legal immigrant population require that the majority of these offenses are committed by illegal immigrants to account for the difference. Interestingly, I can't find measured distinctions between legal and illegal non-citizen residents in the GAO report. A Breitbart article [URL="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/07/illegal-immigrants-accounted-for-nearly-37-percent-of-federal-sentences-in-fy-2014/"]claims[/URL] that the ratio is 9 to 1 illegal immigrants to legal immigrants citing USSC, but the data publicly published by USSC doesn't distinguish so I can't corroborate the claim.
So yes, I apologize for drawing erroneous conclusions based on including legal immigrants in those numbers- but the data still strongly suggests that the majority of immigrants convicted are illegal immigrants, which means that they're still highly overrepresented in the prison system.
[QUOTE=EcksDee;51809342]So you can basically cut the number in half if you want a representation of violent offenders. Granted, there's a lot of overlap there, but the point remains.
I did move the goalposts though and I'll apologize for that. Indeed the population of criminal aliens does overrepresent the population, however the REASON for that is because around half, if not more of them are in prison because they were caught as illegals, not because they did violent crime or anything like that.[/QUOTE]
When I was talking about accounting for the difference, that's not what I meant- I meant differences in sentencing due solely to citizenship status, which cannot be accounted for in the GAO stats. I would strongly suspect that there's a national trend of sentencing illegal immigrants more harshly for the same crimes than legal immigrants.
In any case, yes, you are correct that many of the convictions are not for felony offenses. But if I accept the statistics Breitbart cited (which I am [I]loathe[/I] to do, but cannot find a better source), then we have approximately 49,600 illegal immigrants in federal prison (compared to 5,500 legal immigrants). With an illegal immigrant population of approximately 11 million, that comes to an incarceration rate in federal prison still over seven times higher than the national average.
Even if 2/3 of those are immigration-related offenses, the resulting rate is still between two and three times higher than the national average. That's significant.
I apologize for getting the numbers off in my previous post, that was sloppy of me. But even with corrections taken into account, and even considering the number of convictions based on immigration offenses, illegal immigrants are overrepresented in terms of violent felonies. We can revise data and nitpick over the exact number, but the general point remains the same: It's inaccurate when people cite studies focusing on criminality among the immigrant population as a whole to exonerate illegal immigrants. The fact remains that illegal immigrants commit a disproportionate number of crimes. What we actually do with this fact is another matter- while some will say that it's grounds to deport them all, I think it shouldn't be ignored that the hardships of being an illegal immigrant and non-citizen drive many people into crimes that they might not commit if they had better social support. But I don't think the fact should be [I]ignored[/I] outright just because it doesn't fit the narrative.
I'm going to try to find a source other than the Breitbart article for some hard numbers.
Fake news, I'll see you in court, we all know how accurate these polls are, etc.
It's a shame that the only people who'll listen to this statistic are the ones who don't need to be shown it.
[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;51808263]So basically, what everyone who worries about border security talks about.
The reality is that we need to reform are immigration policies to make it easier for workers to come here(as well as deport those which are bad hombres). Deal with the trafficking of humans, arms, and other contraband much, much more harshly. Stop causing a braindrain in Latin America by taking all of their bright minds away. Best way to do this would be helping to invest into fair-wage jobs in Latin America.
[B]We also should reorganize NAFTA, enforcing regulations of a minimum wage across all memberstates. Without this, we run the risk of exploitation.[/B][/QUOTE]
Potentially a veeeeeeeery dangerous idea, countries have to be allowed to develop and sticking a large minimum wage and regulations will destroy them with the deadweight loss if you make it anywhere near like what we have.
Really NAFTA shouldn't be touched, though, NAFTA only covers Mexico and Canada.
But I at least agree with liberalization of immigration, really, when you look at the economic effects you find that immigrants, even the illegal ones, are a great boon to the US. And at that point to make the case of mass deportation all you're really left with is "well.... it's illegal for them to be here."
Not surprising. For the illegal ones, of course they want to keep their heads down and not draw attention to themselves-- lest they be caught and deported. For the legal ones, they wanted to get here badly enough in the first place that there's no reason why they'd want to resort to crime.
[quote]Now as president, he has signed executive orders that restrict entry of immigrants from seven countries into the U.S. and authorize the construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.[/quote]
The countries he restricted were hilarious too. They had nothing to do with terrorism. Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter of Wahhabi terrorism and from which the majority of 9/11 hijackers originated (not to mention probably had financial help from; Saudi Arabia is also where bin Laden was from), got a free pass for fucks sake.
I got a kick out of Iran being restricted. [url=http://www.appih.org/mit-iranian-americans-among-most-highly-educated-in-u-s-and-contribute-substantially-to-the-u-s-economy/]Mostly because Iranians are actually one of the highest educated and most successful ethnic groups in this county, and they contribute a shitload more to our economy than most of the others do[/url]. Barring these people from entering and making them feel unwanted is ridiculous. You're just shooting yourself in the foot with that kind of behavior.
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