Study Shows ‘No Link Between Crime and Unauthorized Immigration’
An analysis of 11,500 neighborhoods over a decade found no correlation between immigration and a rise in crime
For decades, studies have shown us the impacts of immigration, both legal and otherwise. No matter the methodology, those impacts have always been positive. From boosting the economy and wages to lowering crime rates, immigration helps society. Now, a new study from the UC Irvine School of Social Ecology, which analyzed 11,500 neighborhoods over a decade, provides us with more data to challenge false narratives that have become mainstream
“We find that neighborhoods where the share of undocumented residents grew actually saw greater reductions in property crime and no significant change in violent crime,” the study reads.
Challenging these narratives is something I’ve done for a very long time. The data supporting the positive impacts of immigration in the United States go back more than a century. It’s undeniable. However, the narratives persist due to their political weaponization, as we so often see from politicians exploiting grievances to distract from the real culprits behind people’s struggles: the billionaire class.
What started with the founders having fears about Germans and creating false narratives about their not “assimilating,” to accusing various other immigrant groups in the 19th and 20th centuries of driving up housing costs and crime rates, the narratives we see today date back hundreds of years. The unfounded fears of “white extinction” are just as old.
“Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion.” - Benjamin Franklin
These persistent narratives have historically led to grossly inhumane treatment of immigrants, rationalized by an easily manipulated population. Policies built on these fantasies have existed for centuries. The targets are the only thing that changes over time. The impacts of normalizing anti-immigrant sentiments through the use of dehumanizing language in the news media can be seen across racial, ethnic, and political lines. Rather than reform immigration policy to reflect a more humane approach that represents what the U.S. claims to stand for, the false narratives have resulted in an entire economy being built on mass deportations dating back two decades,
For example, some may point to a slight bump in robberies to rationalize the inhumanity, but most will ignore that immigrants are the victims of those crimes. The UCI study highlights how immigrants are often the targets of robberies because they are known to carry cash due to a lack of access to bank accounts and other financial services.
“An increase in robberies, despite decreases in all other crime categories, would be consistent with the idea that undocumented immigrants are disproportionately likely to be targets of robbery given greater involvement in the cash economy,” UCI professor John Hipp said.
By ignoring these important details in the media or otherwise, dangerous narratives begin to emerge. Conservative reactionaries will weaponize them to call for violence against specific immigrant groups. In 2025, Laura Loomer called for 65 million immigrants to be fed to alligators, but there aren’t that many immigrants in the country. This led me to immediately highlight that there are 65 million Latinos in the U.S. and that her commentary, along with dog whistles heard among other conservative pundits, clearly targets Latinos above all other immigrant groups.
The UCI study concluded that aggressive enforcement policies are built on a “flawed premise of widespread immigrant criminality” and that they tend to “target low-level offenders rather than serious criminals.” They also damage trust between immigrant communities and police, “making residents less likely to report crime or victimization,” in addition to the undeniable human costs of being detained in inhumane conditions and the psychological trauma experienced by U.S.-born children of immigrants whose parents have been detained or deported.
In closing, when someone brings up the “migration crisis” that started in 2019, remind them that President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” sanctions caused it, that former President Joe Biden didn’t lift them, and that U.S. interventions all over the world, particularly in Latin America, create mass migration events. To get to the root causes of migration, we have to start there.
I am an independent freelance journalist and stroke survivor trying to support my family. I have written hundreds of articles on policing, immigration, race, and Latin America. To support my work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
This is a little off topic, but I have lived in rich white neighborhoods, Black neighborhoods and mixed communities. The immigrant community, where we eventually settled, was the most inclusive, mutually helpful, and interesting. The worst neighborhood was the rich white one.
But oddly enough, crime increases when ICE comes to town. 🤔