There does seem to be a widely held belief in the U.S. that illegal immigrants tend to commit more crime than lawful citizens. This belief may or may not be correct.

Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin recently published an article on its blog explaining that immigrants commit less crime than citizens. On reflection, this seems to make sense. Illegal immigrants who want to stay in the U.S. would be less likely to engage in behavior that would likely result in their immigration status being checked — which happens when they are interviewed or arrested by the police.

Of course, this does not address that entering the U.S. illegally is itself a crime. Many immigrants did violate the criminal immigration laws to get to the U.S. and possibly to reside in the U.S. When you factor in these crimes, immigrants may or may not commit less crime than citizens.

What do you think? Do immigrants commit less crime than citizens? Leave a comment to share your opinion.