How do crime rates of undocumented immigrants compare to native-born and legal immigrant populations?
Executive summary
Multiple peer-reviewed and government-linked analyses find that undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born U.S. citizens: a Texas-based study used in National Institute of Justice reporting found undocumented people arrested at less than half the rate for violent and drug crimes and about one-quarter the rate for property crimes compared with U.S.-born citizens [1]. Broad reviews by policy and academic groups conclude immigration is not associated with higher violent crime and, in some cases, correlates with lower crime rates [2] [3].
1. What the direct data shows: lower arrest and conviction rates in several studies
Detailed criminal-history research that can separate immigration status—most notably Texas administrative records—reports substantially lower arrest rates for undocumented immigrants than for U.S.-born citizens across multiple categories: less than half the rate for violent and drug arrests and about one-quarter the rate for property arrests [1] [4]. Independent summaries and fact sheets from advocacy and research organizations likewise report that immigrants (including undocumented) are less likely to be arrested or incarcerated than native-born Americans at national, state and neighborhood levels [5] [3].
2. Why Texas matters — and why it is not the whole country
The clearest direct comparisons come from Texas because its criminal records include immigration status; the Office of Justice Programs and NIJ summaries rely heavily on that dataset [4] [1]. Authors and reviewers repeatedly note this geographic concentration: Texas is a large and important case, but available sources acknowledge that most jurisdictions do not systematically record immigration status, limiting national-level precision [6] [4].
3. Broader empirical literature: no evidence undocumented migration increases violent crime
Multiple empirical reviews and longitudinal state-level analyses find no positive association between undocumented immigration and violent crime; some studies even find modest crime reductions where immigrant concentrations rise [2] [3]. The Brennan Center and Migration Policy Institute syntheses say repeated studies show undocumented immigration does not increase violent crime and that “immigration effect” research often finds crime declines in places with more immigrants [7] [3].
4. Alternative measures and enforcement records that complicate interpretation
Federal enforcement tallies—such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Criminal Alien Statistics—document arrests and historic convictions among noncitizens encountered at the border and in enforcement operations, but these figures reflect enforcement patterns and databases rather than population rates and are not directly comparable to community-level arrest rates [8]. Media compilations and advocacy sites sometimes cite absolute counts of “criminal aliens” without matching to population denominators; the academic literature warns arrest counts can reflect law‑enforcement activity as much as underlying offending [1].
5. Explanations researchers offer for lower documented offending
Scholars propose multiple explanations for consistently lower measured offending among immigrants: selection effects (people who migrate tend to be motivated and risk-averse), strong community and familial ties, labor-market incentives, and a deterrent effect from immigration enforcement and deportation risk [9] [10]. Some studies also emphasize that first‑generation immigrants — including many undocumented people — historically show lower crime rates than later generations [9] [10].
6. Disagreements, limits and areas of uncertainty
Researchers disagree about generalizability beyond the data-rich Texas case and about how to measure undocumented populations accurately; some work finds localized or subgroup differences (e.g., certain country-origin streams) and notes that results can vary by crime type and over time [2] [11]. Several sources underline that arrest-based measures are imperfect: they reflect policing, reporting, and prosecution practices as well as offending behavior [1] [6].
7. How policymakers and the public misuse the data
Analysts warn that highly publicized, individual crimes by undocumented migrants are used to claim a “migrant crime wave,” despite empirical syntheses that show no uptick attributable to immigration [7]. Enforcement agencies’ raw counts are sometimes presented without context about exposure or population size, which can mislead if used to imply higher per-capita offending [8] [7].
8. Bottom line for readers
Available sources consistently show immigrants—including undocumented immigrants in the datasets studied—have lower measured arrest and conviction rates than native-born Americans, with rigorous Texas-based analyses and national reviews supporting that conclusion while noting limitations from data coverage and measurement [1] [4] [5]. That consensus does not erase the need for better, nationwide data and careful differentiation between counts of arrests and true incidence, which many researchers and policy organizations explicitly call for [6] [1].