Opinion

KARDIAN: New Data Vindicate Trump’s Warnings About Crime By Illegal Immigrants

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Steve Kardian Contributor
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Liberals insist that it’s “racist” to worry about crimes committed by illegal immigrants, but a new government report shows that securing the border is absolutely crucial to keeping Americans safe.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a nonpartisan government agency housed within the Department of Justice, recently published a report comparing the federal crime rates of citizens to non-citizens, and the results present a striking contrast to the mainstream media narrative.

Non-citizens accounted for a whopping 64 percent of federal arrests in fiscal 2018. While this is largely due to immigration-related apprehensions, the report reveals that non-citizens also account for a disproportionate share of non-immigration-related arrests, especially for drug and property crime.

According to the report, 15 percent of arrests made by federal law enforcement in 2018 were of non-citizens, as were 15 percent of prosecutions for non-immigration offenses in federal district courts. While this may not sound like a huge figure, it’s more than double the 7 percent share of the general population that non-citizens constitute, according to the most recent data from the Census Bureau.

The BJS report also reveals that non-citizens are significantly more likely to be arrested by federal law enforcement for some of the most egregious categories of crimes. Non-citizens accounted for a full 24 percent of all federal drug arrests, 25 percent of federal property arrests, and 28 percent of federal fraud arrests. Again, keep in mind that non-citizens constitute just 7 percent of the U.S. population.

Put simply, the report shows unequivocally that non-citizens commit crimes at significantly higher rates than citizens, just as President Trump has repeatedly pointed out.

For years, the Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media have called the president terrible names for calling this situation what it is. Ever since then-candidate Trump declared his plans to stop illegal immigration a top priority, liberals have claimed they had “scientific” evidence that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes and are a net benefit to society. Anyone who disagrees with their rose-colored assessment, they contend, must be a “racist” or a “white supremacist.”

But the president hasn’t been cowed by their name-calling, which only seems to have redoubled his determination to stop the scourge of illegal immigration and protect American communities. The BJS report is a complete vindication of what Trump and his backers have said for a long time: ending illegal immigration is imperative if the government is going to fulfill its number-one responsibility of keeping Americans safe.

If liberals keep denying the threat that illegal immigrants pose to American citizens even in light of this new data, it will only prove once and for all that they are unfit to lead this great nation. President Trump has been correct about the dangers posed by illegal immigration all along, and if Democratic lawmakers aren’t willing to acknowledge that, then it’s time to replace them with representatives who truly care about keeping the American people safe.

Steve Kardian is a former New York police detective, sergeant, NYC chief investigator and contractor for the United States Marshal’s Service.


The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.