NPR reports:

[R]esearch indicates that immigrants commit less crimes than U.S.-born people.

Much of the available data focuses on incarceration rates because that’s where immigration status is recorded.

Some of the most extensive research comes from Stanford University. Economist Ran Abramitzky found that since the 1960s, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people.

There is also state level research, that shows similar results: researchers at the CATO Institute, a Libertarian think tank, looked into Texas in 2019. They found that undocumented immigrants were 37.1% less likely to be convicted of a crime.

Beyond incarceration rates, research also shows that there is no correlation between undocumented people and a rise in crime. Recent investigations by The New York Times and The Marshall Project found that between 2007 and 2016, there was no link between undocumented immigrants and a rise in violent or property crime in those communities.

The reason for this gap in criminal behavior might have to do with stability and achievement. The Stanford study concludes that first-generation male immigrants traditionally do better than U.S-.born men who didn’t finish high school, which is the group most likely to be incarcerated in the U.S.

The study also suggests that there’s a real fear of getting in trouble and being deported within immigrant communities. Far from engaging in criminal activities, immigrants mostly don’t want to rock the boat. [Continue reading…]

CNBC reported in 2019:

On at least two key measures of immigrants’ financial performance — their rates of entrepreneurship and how much debt they hold — foreign-born workers out-perform native-born Americans.

The 2017 Kauffman Entrepreneurship Index shows that immigrants are more entrepreneurial than native-born Americans. Every year from 1996 to 2016, the pace at which immigrants started businesses outpaced U.S.-born individuals two-fold. Whether it’s a corner mom-and-pop taquería or a Silicon Valley start-up, immigrants are engaging in entrepreneurship more frequently, and often succeeding. According to the non-partisan Partnership for a New American Economy, over 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies had a founder who was either an immigrant or the child of one.

Another key measure of financial strength at which foreign-born Americans outpace the native-born: Immigrants use credit less often for purchasing cars, homes, or starting businesses. This results in significantly lower levels of indebtedness than native-born Americans. [Continue reading…]