USA - Undocumented Immigrants
Contrary to public perception, we observe considerably lower felony arrest rates among undocumented immigrants compared to legal immigrants and native-born US citizens and find no evidence that undocumented criminality has increased in recent years. Our findings help us understand why the most aggressive immigrant removal programs have not delivered on their crime reduction promises and are unlikely to do so in the future.
We make use of uniquely comprehensive arrest data from the Texas Department of Public Safety to compare the criminality of undocumented immigrants to legal immigrants and native-born US citizens between 2012 and 2018. We find that undocumented immigrants have substantially lower crime rates than native-born citizens and legal immigrants across a range of felony offenses. Relative to undocumented immigrants, US-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.
-www.pnas.org, 7 December 2020
Arno's Commentary
The above article, published by the United States National Academy of Science and edited by Douglas S. Massey of Princeton University, is of interest since there is much misinformation regarding foreigners, not only in the US but increasingly in Europe as well.
Our interest lies exclusively in truth, and that based on the Bible.
To Israel, the Lord commanded: “But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:34). The New Testament confirms: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).
A recent article in Christianity Today showed that over 50% of Spanish language churches have been established since the year 2000. What a blessing!
Regarding crime, the respectable Cato Institute (libertarian think tank) confirms: “The results are similar to our other work on illegal immigration and crime in Texas. In 2018, the illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 782 per 100,000 illegal immigrants, 535 per 100,000 legal immigrants, and 1,422 per 100,000 native-born Americans. The illegal immigrant criminal conviction rate was 45 percent below that of native-born Americans in Texas.”
A report from WorldPopulationReview.com shows the richest and most successful countries have a high percentage of foreign-born residents: UAE 83.1%, Saudi Arabia 38.7%, Australia 30.1%, Switzerland 28.8%, and USA 15.3%.
As believers, let us rejoice that Jesus is building His Church. Regardless of geopolitical circumstances, He is the first and the last; one day He will rule the whole world from Jerusalem and judge righteously.
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
