1. Conservatives and many other advocates of “immigration reform” claim that immigrants (especially undocumented immigrants/illegal aliens) increase crime rates and cost taxpayers a lot of money because of high crime rates and high incarceration rates. This claim appears to make sense because large numbers of immigrants are working age (20-45) unattached males with low education levels and low wage jobs, a demographic that is often correlated with high crime and incarceration rates. This claim appears particularly serious in California, which has proportionately more than twice the immigrant population of the US as a whole. Further, since immigration is also increasing across the rest of the US, the “problem” in California might highlight a growing national problem. The Public Policy Institute of California has published a recent study that examines these claims about immigrants, crime, and incarceration more closely. http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cacounts/CC_208KBCC.pdf

2. The age distribution of California men suggests that foreign born men would be expected to have higher incarceration rates (IRs) than US born men – because a large majority of foreign born men (but not US born men) are in age categories with the highest IRs – 20 to 49 years old.

3. Educational attainment of California men also suggests that foreign born men would be expected to have higher IRs than US born men – foreign born men have much lower education levels than US born men and low educational level is usually correlated with high IRs.

4. Actual IRs are much different from what would be expected from analysis of age distribution and educational attainment – FOREIGN BORN MEN ACTUALLY HAVE MUCH LOWER IRS THAN US BORN MEN (LESS THAN HALF).

5. In this table the researchers focus on prime incarceration age groups utilizing a broader measure of criminal activity than incarceration, including jails, rehab, and confinement in mental institutions. Again foreign born men unexpectedly have much lower IRs than US born men.

6. This table looks at the correlation between low educational attainment and IRs. The pattern for US born shows the expected correlation (higher the educational level the lower the IR), but the pattern for the majority of foreign born does not – it is reversed – low education level  low IRs!

7. This table looks at IRs for men for prime incarceration ages and various places of birth. The US born IR is about ten times higher than foreign born IRs and this is consistent across different places of birth, although Asian IRs are consistently lower than Hispanic IRs.

8. The same patterns hold for non-citizen foreign born.

9. The disparities grow larger among men of prime incarceration age with less than a high school education. US born men are about thirteen to thirty times as likely to be institutionalized as foreign born men.

10. Because their IRs are so much lower than US born men, overall property crime rates tend to decrease with large inflows of immigrants into an area.

11. And violent crime rates drop even more with an influx of immigrants.

12. The Report focuses on “the facts” and doesn’t really offer an explanation for why immigrant IRs and crime rates are much lower than those for US born men. (Note: in the 1990s the US experienced record levels of immigration and record decreases in crime rates) Two theories have been offered to explain this: 1.Cultural differences (traditional soc explan) 2.Immigration and job markets

13. 1. Cultural differences (trad soc explanation) Immigrants have had lower crime rates than US born men since the earliest studies in the 1920s and 1930s. Sociologists have theorized that immigrants usually come from more traditional/rural cultural backgrounds that emphasize family and religious values, and that first generation immigrants typically have not learned the American/urban values that lead to high crime rates. By the third generation, remaining immigrants have acculturated and have crime rates similar to US born men.

14. 2. Immigration and job markets The second explanation basically argues that most immigrants, who are young unattached males, come to the US for work and to send money back home to their families. When work is available, like it was in the 1990s, they come to the US in increasing numbers, work hard, and send money home. When work becomes unavailable, immigration decreases and earlier immigrants return to their home countries.