Facts stump Trump’s immigrant crime views

PRESIDENT Donald Trump continues to blame immigrants for crime despite mounting evidence that immigrants commit fewer crimes than those born in the US, says a new study.

The report was released as a second US federal judge issued a restraining order yesterday blocking enforcement of one of the critical sections of Trump’s revised travel ban, using the president’s own comments against him in deciding the ban was likely to run afoul of the constitution.

US District Judge Theodore Chuang said those wanting evidence of anti-Muslim intent need look no further than what the president himself had said about it and described the new executive order as “the realisation of the long-envisioned Muslim ban”.

A report on responsibility for crime, released by The Sentencing Project, drew on survey data analysing 40 000 immigrants from countries around the world living in the US, aged 18 and older. It found that higher levels of immigration in the past few decades may have contributed to the historic drop in crime rates, and that immigrants were under-represented in US prisons.

The study’s authors condemned Trump’s immigrant rhetoric, pointing to its factual incorrectness.

“Starting from his first day as a candidate, President Donald Trump has made demonstrably false claims associating immigrants with criminality,” they wrote.

“These facts – supported by over 100 years of research – have been misrepresented both historically and in recent political debates,” they added.

Trump backed up his anti-immigrant rhetoric in a speech to Congress with this incorrect information about crime committed by immigrants.

“My administration has answered the pleas of the American people for immigration enforcement and border security,” Trump said. “By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will… make our communities safer for everyone.” – teleSUR and Washington Post