oh wait, using your own words it said... Comprehensive demographic data and criminological studies do not support the claim that illegal immigrants commit murders or cause deaths on a daily or frequent basis. Extensive research shows that undocumented immigrants commit violent crimes at significantly lower rates than native-born U.S. citizens. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2014704117 While individual high-profile cases of violent crime committed by undocumented immigrants occur and are widely covered by media outlets, statistically, they represent a small fraction of overall violent crime in the United States. https://www.cato.org/commentary/laken-rileys-death-made-news-heres-real-story-undocumented-migrants Comparative Homicide and Crime Rates Multiple independent research institutions and criminologists have analyzed decades of arrest, conviction, and incarceration data: [1, 2] Incarceration Rates: A comprehensive study by the Cato Institute analyzed U.S. Census data and found that undocumented immigrants have an incarceration rate of 674 per 100,000, compared to 1,195 per 100,000 for native-born Americans. [1] Homicide Convictions: Research isolating Texas—the only U.S. state that systematically records criminal justice data by legal status—shows that undocumented immigrants have a homicide conviction rate of 2.4 per 100,000, lower than the native-born citizen rate of 2.8 per 100,000. [1] Long-Term Trends: Peer-reviewed data published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) demonstrates that across violent crime categories, undocumented immigrants consistently maintain lower rates of felony arrests than U.S.-born citizens. [1] Data on Traffic Fatalities Claims regarding daily deaths often refer to motor vehicle accidents, such as driving under the influence (DUI). [1, 2] National Context: Roughly 30 to 40 people die every day from drunk driving in the U.S.. [1] Demographic Breakdown: According to federal law enforcement reporting, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) notes that native-born citizens make up the vast majority of these offenses. [1] State-Level Impact: Studies tracking state-by-state data indicate that higher concentrations of undocumented immigrants are actually correlated with lower state-level rates of drug fatalities and DUI arrests. [1] Distinguishing Total ICE Cases vs. Annual Incidents Public misconception sometimes stems from multi-decade cumulative government datasets. For instance, reports citing thousands of non-detained immigrants with criminal histories represent files accumulated over 40 years. These numbers include individuals who completed their sentences decades ago or individuals whose convictions occurred in their home countries prior to arrival, rather than an indication of daily domestic crimes. [1, 2, 3] but wait... there's more! There is no official national database that tracks the exact annual number of murders committed specifically by undocumented immigrants across the entire United States, as federal law enforcement agencies and most states do not systematically track the immigration status of every arrested individual. However, specialized state-level tracking and federal records offer concrete insights into these statistics: [1, 2] State-Level Data (Texas) Texas is the only state that comprehensively logs arrests and convictions by legal status. Because Texas shares a large border and has the nation's second-highest population of unauthorized immigrants, researchers often use its data as a baseline for wider trends. [1] Annual Convictions: According to a comprehensive decade-long study by the Cato Institute, there were 67 undocumented immigrants convicted of homicide in Texas out of 1,336 total homicide convictions. [1] Comparative Rates: The same study revealed that the homicide conviction rate for undocumented immigrants was 3.1 per 100,000, compared to 4.9 per 100,000 for native-born U.S. citizens. [1] Federal Convictions and Agency Data CBP Statistics: U.S. Customs and Border Protection records the criminal histories of noncitizens encountered by law enforcement. In Fiscal Year 2023, CBP reported 29 convictions for homicide/manslaughter nationwide among noncitizens within their enforcement data. [1] The "13,000" Figure Explained: Federal data released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicated that there were 13,099 noncitizens convicted of homicide on ICE's "non-detained" docket. However, independent data analyses from the Cato Institute and reporting by NBC News clarified that this is a cumulative total spanning over 40 years, not an annual figure. Furthermore, a vast majority of those individuals are not walking free; they include people currently serving long-term sentences in federal, state, and local prisons. [1, 2, 3] Academic and Statistical Consensus Multiple peer-reviewed studies—including research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)—demonstrate that undocumented immigrants are substantially less likely to commit violent crimes, including homicide, than native-born U.S. citizens. Criminologists attribute this trend largely to the strong deterrent of potential deportation, which makes undocumented individuals highly motivated to avoid any contact with law enforcement. [1, 2, 3, 4]
