If you are undocumented, don't run a red light in Prince William County

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Arrest Data Add Fuel to Debate on Illegal Residents
Most Pr. William Cases for Minor Crimes
A Contrast in Crime Statistics

By Jonathan Mummolo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 12, 2009; Page C01

About 2 percent of the people charged with major violent crimes in Prince William County last year were illegal immigrants, but they were arrested for a larger portion of secondary offenses, according to newly released statistics and a Washington Post analysis that offer the first comprehensive look at criminal activity since the county implemented its controversial anti-illegal immigration measures...

...George E. Tita, an associate professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California at Irvine, said the charges against illegal immigrants are, in part, due to their circumstance. They can't get driver's licenses and often can't get legitimate work, so arrests for prostitution and driving without a license are to be expected, he said.

"If you can't find a legitimate job, you're going to enter the underground economy," Tita said. "It's really easy to create some sort of moral panic or demonize some sort of group when you have a couple of high-profile murders. . . . . Illegal aliens are like the rest of us in the sense that there's a distribution. . . . There's a lot of good people, and then there are some people that are not so good." - link to complete article