Thursday, July 17, 2014

Immigrants (still) arrested at very low rates

A reporter pointed me to this page on the Texas DPS website titled "Texas Criminal Alien Arrest Data" posting material that Col. Steve McCraw has been using to promote the state's beefed up border strategy. Check it out.

The data, though, lack context. Notice that the first chart is not to scale - arrests of "criminal aliens" are in fact a small proportion of the whole: Eight percent of statewide arrests is much lower than the 16 percent of Texas residents who are foreign born. The rest were "Non Alien Arrestees," in DPS' parlance, which I guess is how we now label "citizens." (In this context, "alien" includes both legal and undocumented immigrants.)

In any event, foreign-born residents account for sixteen percent of Texas' population but just eight percent of total statewide arrests, by DPS' data. That's not exactly a raging crime wave.

10 comments:

  1. My brain hurts from the blatant misinformation in that bar graph.

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  2. What percentage of the Texas population is composed of those who crossed the border illegally? Since they do everything they can to avoid notice, we don't know. What percentage has availed themselves of the false documents industry--a growth industry in Texas? Since nobody admits to these numbers, do we know?

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  3. Much bullshit. Such deception. Is it just me or has this agency become a megaphone for the Governor's office?

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  4. Perry's Kids...lol

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  5. Does DPS get their numbers from the TCJS monthly immigration detainer reports? If yes then I believe those numbers would be higher because the TCJS reports only numbers with ICE detainers. It does not account for the number of illegal immigrants who are arrested but ICE does not place a detainer or the arresting agency does not query the persons residency status thru ICE.

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  6. The most obvious problem with this factoid is that it involves arrests not crimes committed. Lots of illegals commit a crime and when the police get on their trail skip across the border. Later they return to another area.

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  7. Department of Political Safety

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  8. Ran in to some of the nations finest border defenders other day. Most barely speak English so I had to talk to them in Spanish. The Russian guy, I just used hand gestures because he didn't have a clue. That is what's guarding our border.

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  9. Has the Statue of Liberty been moved to the Gulf of Mexico?

    "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, etc...."

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  10. Give them time, Grits. They are there merely to provoke an international incident in an effort to justify this. Let's hope our LE folks steer clear the best they can and come back safe. Let the politicians go down there and fire the first shot.

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