Baiting Newspaper Readers

An article on the front page of a major newspaper that says "thousands" of immigrants charged with crimes have taken off is one successful way to get the attention of their readers. Is this a sign of desperation (i.e. the Republican way, scare people off so they will cling to the "experts" )? Numerous reports, academic and otherwise state that the incidence of immigrant crime is very low, especially compared to how the media presents it...

One of the most respected immigration scholars in the U.S., Ruben Rumbaut has a report on this... Take head readers. Remember getting sucked into these dramatic stories of disappeared criminals causes more hate. Remember what happened to Marcello Lucero?

An Abuse of Freedom , Houston Chronicle, November 17, 2008

Research Finds Fear Of Illegal Immigrant Crime Unfounded

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 29, 2008

TAMPA - A series of rapes in the Tampa Bay area that has been blamed on three Mexican nationals set off a battle over the way law enforcement handles illegal immigrants, with a congresswoman and the Hillsborough County sheriff trading barbs and some local residents arguing that the immigrant crime problem had gotten out of hand.

But illegal immigrants actually are less likely than others to commit violent crimes, said researchers who study the issue. In part, they say, that's because the immigrants don't want to draw attention to themselves.

Available data "put the lie to this hyperbole, this immigrant scapegoating, the sensationalizing, and especially the conflation that legal or illegal immigration is associated not only with crime, but with terrorism," said Ruben G. Rumbaut, sociology professor at the University of California at Irvine. more

Immigrants and Crime Fact Check

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