How do crime rates among undocumented immigrants compare to those of legal immigrant groups and U.S. citizens?
Executive summary
Research across multiple datasets and expert analyses finds that undocumented immigrants in the U.S. generally have lower rates of arrest, conviction and incarceration than both U.S.-born citizens and many legally present immigrant groups; for example, a Texas study reported undocumented people were arrested at far lower rates and U.S.-born citizens were more than twice as likely to be arrested for violent crimes and over four times as likely for property crimes [1]. National reviews and fact sheets from academic and policy groups reach similar conclusions: immigrants as a whole — including unauthorized migrants — do not raise crime rates and often correspond with lower violent and property crime [2] [3] [4].
1. The headline finding: undocumented immigrants exhibit lower measured offending than the U.S.-born
Large, peer-reviewed and government-linked studies repeatedly report that undocumented immigrants are less likely to be arrested, convicted or incarcerated than U.S.-born Americans. Texas’s unique dataset — widely cited because it records immigration status at arrest — found undocumented individuals had the lowest offending rates among groups studied and that U.S.-born citizens were over two times more likely to be arrested for violent crime, 2.5 times more likely for drug crimes, and over four times more likely for property crimes [1]. National summaries from the National Institute of Justice and Migration Policy also report lower arrest and conviction rates for unauthorized immigrants compared with native-born populations [5] [3].
2. Broader evidence: immigrants overall do not increase crime and often correlate with declines
Analysts tracking decades of U.S. crime and immigration data show that increases in immigrant population share coincided with large national declines in crime since the 1980s, and state-level analyses find no positive correlation between immigrant share and total crime [6] [2]. Policy reviews and think‑tank pieces conclude that immigrants — legal and undocumented — tend to have lower incarceration and arrest rates than U.S.-born people, a pattern observed in multiple studies and across historical data spanning many decades [7] [8].
3. Explanations offered by researchers — incentives, selection and reporting dynamics
Scholars propose several mechanisms: selection effects (those who migrate tend to be self-selected for risk avoidance and future orientation), strong incentives for undocumented people to avoid interactions that could trigger deportation, and community factors in immigrant enclaves that lower some crime forms [8] [9]. Researchers also warn that official statistics may undercount victimization or unreported crime in immigrant communities because fear of detection can reduce reporting to police, which could bias measured crime downward [4].
4. Where data are strongest — and where limits remain
The clearest empirical advantage comes from jurisdictions that record immigration status at arrest (notably Texas), allowing direct comparison; those datasets underpin several influential findings showing lower offending among undocumented immigrants [1] [9]. But national-level research often relies on proxies (incarceration, arrest records without status) or aggregate correlations; researchers caution that lack of uniform national data on status limits some conclusions and that reporting differences could affect observed rates [5] [4].
5. Counterpoints and contested interpretations
While a strong consensus emerges in the cited literature that undocumented immigrants do not raise crime and often have lower measured offending, some observers emphasize high‑profile violent incidents to argue otherwise; scholars counter that policy debates should rely on aggregated evidence, not isolated cases [10]. Additionally, alternative interpretations exist: declines in recorded crime in immigrant communities could partly reflect underreporting by victims fearful of exposure to immigration authorities [4].
6. Policy implications and hidden agendas in public debate
Research cited here implies that broad enforcement or mass deportation of undocumented people would not necessarily reduce crime rates and could in some cases undermine community safety by eroding trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities [6] [8]. Political actors who foreground a “migrant crime wave” often cite anecdotes rather than the systematic studies summarized by the American Immigration Council, Migration Policy Institute and NIJ, indicating an agenda that privileges sensational cases over population-level evidence [2] [5] [10].
7. Takeaway for readers
Available studies consistently show undocumented immigrants are less likely to be arrested, convicted or incarcerated than U.S.-born citizens and often have lower measured offending than legal immigrant groups in the datasets that record status [1] [3]. Limitations remain — chiefly uneven national data on immigration status at the individual level and the possibility of underreporting — and credible alternative explanations have been raised in the scholarly literature [4] [5].