I’ve been protesting with #OccupyICELA for over a week now, and being a part of this Saturday’s march was simply incredible. So many people are waking up to the moral argument that no one is illegal on stolen land!
But for those on the right who simply care about the crime rate, there’s also good news:
If we open up our borders, and allow anyone who wants to come into the U.S. to move here, the crime rate per capita will actually go down!
These figures are from the Cato Institute, a right-wing, libertarian think tank–so you can’t accuse them of having a liberal bias. And while they so far have only done a study in Texas, that’s a state with a high amount of immigrants from Central and South America, just the kinds of people that Trump has accused in the past of sending criminal elements into the United States.
Funny then, that the crime rate for “illegal” immigrants is less than half that of native born folks:
“Oh, but that’s the crime rate overall,” you say. “But when it comes to horrible crimes such as rape, we should be clutching our pearls and bemoaning the violence that comes across our borders!”
Well, stop being racist, ya schmuck! Because you’re wrong about that, too. When it comes to sexual assault, the crime rate among immigrants, “illegal” or not, is still lower:
“But I don’t actually care much about women,” I hear you saying. “I’m a typical right wing goon, and I think women are all whiners. Rape is such a petty crime compared to murder, something I actually care about because it affects me, unlike these woman-y types! We have to close our borders to keep out all the murderers!”
To which I reply, what the hell are you talking about? Native-born Texas commit far more murders, both in total and per capita, than immigrants.
The one thing we agree on, across the political spectrum, is that crimes, including sexual assault and murder, are terrible. I never thought I’d say this, but the Cato Institute has pointed the way towards helping reduce these problems significantly in the United States.