The myth that immigrants are more likely to commit violent crimes than native-born Americans is false and has been debunked by research again and again. The myth persist thanks to Fox News and right-wing politicians.
Why does this myth persists?
Number one is that propaganda works. There's numerous research done that people end up believing a lie after listening to it, over and over. It's called the Illusory Truth Effect Violent crimes committed by people of color are over-represented in the media. The more you see it in the news the more you associate crime with immigration. Heck, this blog post probably will end up reinforcing the link. But what can I say?
Number two fear of the "other" is human nature, blaming problems on a scape-goat, specially if the group you blame cannot fight back makes an useful diversion tool. Politicians use illegal immigrant crimes as a tool to get people outraged. GOP and right-wingers love to talk about crime rates when in fact crime has been at its lowest since the 90's (According to the FBI crime data)
The incarceration rate of White US-Born people has been higher than Immigrants for the past 60 years:
Immigrants in general and Undocumented immigrants in particular come here to work and to escape really crappy conditions. Not to commit crimes. However, the media and politicians will make you think otherwise, let's face it, why let reality get in the way of a profitable fantasy? Fear of immigrants will get more views, and more views means more ad revenue, scary stories of the brown rapist will get politicians elected it's such an easy racket. Who is going to stand up for the illegals? Who will Speak Up for them? Democrats?
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