IMMIGRANTS - Crime Rates, Truth vs Fiction

Perception is our brains INTERPRETATION of our world, not world reality itself.  Also, Mexico is NOT SENDING people, they come for better lives to support families.

"Truth vs. perception of crime rates for immigrants" PBS NewsHour 7/10/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Incendiary comments made by Donald Trump and a random killing of a California woman have added fuel to national debate on the contributions of and concerns about undocumented immigrants.  William Brangham speaks to Marielena Hincapié of the National Immigration Law Center, Marc Rosenblum of the Migration Policy Institute and Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour):  The firestorm started when in his announcement that he was running for president, Donald Trump turned to the topic of immigration.

DONALD TRUMP (R), Presidential Candidate:  When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best.  They’re not sending you.  They’re not sending you.  They’re sending people that have lots of problems.  And they’re bringing those problems with us.  They’re bringing drugs.  They’re bringing crime.  They’re rapists.  And some, I assume, are good people.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  In the weeks following, major businesses connected to Trump backed away from partnerships and projects with him.  They included NBC, Univision, Macy’s, ESPN, and the Professional Golf Association.

For his part, Trump stood by his comments.  But then a tragedy in San Francisco added fuel to the fire; 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was shot and killed at the end of last month.  Undocumented immigrant Juan Lopez-Sanchez confessed to a reporter that he shot her, but said it was an accident.

All this has just inflamed the debate about immigration in the U.S., whether immigrants are a positive force in the country or whether they should be feared.  There are currently more than 41 million immigrants in America.  Over 11 million are estimated to be here illegally.

To help us understand what we know about the nation’s immigrants, legal and illegal, I’m joined by three people who have studied the research.

Marielena Hincapie is the executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, an immigration rights group.  Marc Rosenblum is from the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.  And Jessica Vaughan is with the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for tougher border security.