Immigration and crime

Immigration and crime refers to the relationship, or lack thereof, between criminal activity and the phenomenon of immigration.

Frank Cormier argues that in just about every country immigrants are less likely to commit crimes.^[1] There is little evidence that migration 'unconditionally' leads to more terrorist activity, especially in western countries, and the effectiveness of stopping migration on preventing terrorism is rather limited.^[2] Research on the relationship between refugee migration and crime is ambiguous.^[3] Some scholars argue that this data even inflates the relative number of immigrants committing crimes because some data includes imprisonment for migration offenses while racial and ethnic discrimination by police and the judicial system can result in higher conviction rates for immigrants relative to the actual number of crimes committed.^[4]^[5]

Research in the United States tends to suggest either that immigration has no impact on the crime rate or even that immigrants are less prone to crime.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] A meta-analysis of 51 studies from 1994–2014 on the relationship between immigration and crime in the United States found that, overall, the immigration-crime association is slightly negative with significant variation across studies.^[10] This aligns with a 2009 review of high-quality studies conducted in the United States that also found a negative relationship.^[11] In Europe, there is also little connection between immigration and crime despite claims by some right-wing parties.^[12]

^ Cullen, Catherine (2017). "Does immigration increase crime?". CBC.ca.
^ Helbling, Marc; Meierrieks, Daniel (2020). "Terrorism and Migration: An Overview". British Journal of Political Science. 52 (2): 977–996. doi:10.1017/S0007123420000587. ISSN 0007-1234. 1) there is little evidence that more migration unconditionally leads to more terrorist activity, especially in Western countries... (3) the effectiveness of stricter migration policies in deterring terrorism is rather limited
^ Masterson, Daniel; Yasenov, Vasil (2021). "Does Halting Refugee Resettlement Reduce Crime? Evidence from the US Refugee Ban". American Political Science Review. 115 (3): 1066–1073. doi:10.1017/S0003055421000150. ISSN 0003-0554.
^ Crocitti, Stefania (2014). Immigration, Crime, and Criminalization in Italy – Oxford Handbooks. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199859016.013.029.
^ West, Jeremy (February 2018). "Racial Bias in Police Investigations" (PDF). Working Paper. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
^ Hesson, Ted; Rosenberg, Mica; Hesson, Ted; Rosenberg, Mica (16 July 2024). "Trump says migrants are fueling violent crime. Here is what the research shows". Reuters. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
^ Baker, S. R. (2011). "Effects of Immigrant Legalization on Crime: The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1829368. S2CID 20388764.
^ The Integration of Immigrants into American Society. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. doi:10.17226/21746. ISBN 978-0-309-37398-2. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2018. Americans have long believed that immigrants are more likely than natives to commit crimes and that rising immigration leads to rising crime... This belief is remarkably resilient to the contrary evidence that immigrants are in fact much less likely than natives to commit crimes.
^ Papadopoulos, Georgios (2 July 2014). "Immigration status and property crime: an application of estimators for underreported outcomes". IZA Journal of Migration. 3 (1): 12. doi:10.1186/2193-9039-3-12. ISSN 2193-9039.
^ Ousey, Graham C.; Kubrin, Charis E. (2018). "Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Contentious Issue". Annual Review of Criminology. 1 (1): 63–84. doi:10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092026.
^ Lee, Matthew T.; Martinez Jr., Ramiro (2009). "Immigration reduces crime: an emerging scholarly consensus". Immigration, Crime and Justice. Emerald Group Publishing. pp. 3–16. ISBN 978-1-84855-438-2. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
^ "Confusion over immigration and crime is roiling European politics". The Economist. 30 June 2018. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 28 July 2024. Europe's immigration problems and its crime problems are mostly unrelated. But they are inseparable in politics...Male refugees are committing fewer crimes as they move out of shelters, where fights break out. It also helps that the share of women among the migrants is rising. 'The biggest factor in reducing violence is if the number of women goes up,' says Mr Pfeiffer. 'The young husbands suddenly care about their family.'

[1] Cullen, Catherine (2017). "Does immigration increase crime?". CBC.ca.

[:19-2] Helbling, Marc; Meierrieks, Daniel (2020). "Terrorism and Migration: An Overview". British Journal of Political Science. 52 (2): 977–996. doi:10.1017/S0007123420000587. ISSN 0007-1234. 1) there is little evidence that more migration unconditionally leads to more terrorist activity, especially in Western countries... (3) the effectiveness of stricter migration policies in deterring terrorism is rather limited

[:25-3] Masterson, Daniel; Yasenov, Vasil (2021). "Does Halting Refugee Resettlement Reduce Crime? Evidence from the US Refugee Ban". American Political Science Review. 115 (3): 1066–1073. doi:10.1017/S0003055421000150. ISSN 0003-0554.

[:27-4] Crocitti, Stefania (2014). Immigration, Crime, and Criminalization in Italy – Oxford Handbooks. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199859016.013.029.

[5] West, Jeremy (February 2018). "Racial Bias in Police Investigations" (PDF). Working Paper. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2018.

[6] Hesson, Ted; Rosenberg, Mica; Hesson, Ted; Rosenberg, Mica (16 July 2024). "Trump says migrants are fueling violent crime. Here is what the research shows". Reuters. Retrieved 28 July 2024.

[7] Baker, S. R. (2011). "Effects of Immigrant Legalization on Crime: The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1829368. S2CID 20388764.

[Integration-8] The Integration of Immigrants into American Society. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. doi:10.17226/21746. ISBN 978-0-309-37398-2. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2018. Americans have long believed that immigrants are more likely than natives to commit crimes and that rising immigration leads to rising crime... This belief is remarkably resilient to the contrary evidence that immigrants are in fact much less likely than natives to commit crimes.

[:8-9] Papadopoulos, Georgios (2 July 2014). "Immigration status and property crime: an application of estimators for underreported outcomes". IZA Journal of Migration. 3 (1): 12. doi:10.1186/2193-9039-3-12. ISSN 2193-9039.

[10] Ousey, Graham C.; Kubrin, Charis E. (2018). "Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Contentious Issue". Annual Review of Criminology. 1 (1): 63–84. doi:10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092026.

[11] Lee, Matthew T.; Martinez Jr., Ramiro (2009). "Immigration reduces crime: an emerging scholarly consensus". Immigration, Crime and Justice. Emerald Group Publishing. pp. 3–16. ISBN 978-1-84855-438-2. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2016.

[12] "Confusion over immigration and crime is roiling European politics". The Economist. 30 June 2018. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 28 July 2024. Europe's immigration problems and its crime problems are mostly unrelated. But they are inseparable in politics...Male refugees are committing fewer crimes as they move out of shelters, where fights break out. It also helps that the share of women among the migrants is rising. 'The biggest factor in reducing violence is if the number of women goes up,' says Mr Pfeiffer. 'The young husbands suddenly care about their family.'

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