Do illegal immigrants commit more crime than native US citizens?

1. What the data actually say: large, rigorous studies find lower offending rates

A landmark study using Texas Department of Public Safety records — uniquely able to record immigration status on arrestees — finds undocumented immigrants had substantially lower felony arrest rates than legal immigrants and native-born citizens between 2012–2018, with undocumented persons arrested at less than half the rate for violent and drug crimes and about a quarter the rate for property crimes ^{[1] [2] [3]}. National syntheses and long-run analyses back this pattern: immigrants overall have been incarcerated at lower rates than the U.S.-born for decades and recent work finds immigrants were about 60% less likely to be incarcerated in 2020 ^{[4] [5] [6]}.

2. Why researchers consider these findings robust — and where limits remain

Researchers emphasize that Texas is unusual because it records immigration status at arrest, enabling direct comparison; the results are robust across alternative population estimates, offense classifications and time windows ^{[3] [7]}. Still, scholars warn about generalizing from one state, undercounting of offenses and different law‑enforcement practices that could affect measured arrest rates, and they call for more national-level, status-disaggregated data ^{[8] [9]}. The studies report patterns, not moral judgments, and they acknowledge statistical uncertainty around rare events like homicide ^[2].

3. Contradictory claims, partisan uses and methodological disputes

Some analyses and commentators have reached opposing conclusions — for example, organizations like the Crime Prevention Research Center have interpreted available data differently — and think tanks on both sides of the political spectrum have used selective findings to support policy prescriptions ^[1]. Public discussion is often shaped by high-profile incidents and political messaging that amplify fear; policy actors sometimes conflate border apprehensions or smuggling networks with the aggregate criminality of undocumented people ^{[6] [10]}. These partisan frames represent implicit agendas: advocacies pushing for stricter enforcement highlight isolated crimes, while proponents of immigration reform emphasize population-level safety benefits.

4. Mechanisms and context: why immigrants often show lower measured crime rates

Scholars point to selection effects (those who migrate tend to be younger, motivated and risk-averse in certain ways), immigrant community structures, and deterrence from reporting or engaging in visible criminal activity as possible explanations for lower measured offending; some work also finds rising immigrant concentrations correlate with declining local crime in many cities ^{[4] [6] [8]}. Researchers also note that noncitizens can face different prosecutorial and sentencing patterns, which complicates comparisons of conviction and incarceration outcomes ^[8].

5. Bottom line for policymakers and the public

Empirical evidence across multiple reputable sources leads to a clear, qualified conclusion: undocumented immigrants, on average, are not more criminal than native-born Americans and are often substantially less so according to the best available arrest and incarceration data ^{[1] [2] [4]}. That conclusion does not negate the seriousness of individual crimes, nor does it erase legitimate border security concerns or the need to target organized criminal networks; it does, however, challenge policy claims that mass deportation or blunt enforcement of migration would yield large public‑safety gains ^{[7] [10]}.