Media coverage may be feeding illegal-immigrant-crime beliefs

By Michael Kiefer
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Undocumented immigrants are causing a crime wave in Arizona: True or false?

Last year, a national poll indicated that a third of all Americans believe immigrants significantly increase the crime rate.

The perception is that, yes, they are: the truth is, no one is keeping track.

And the only statistics available that single out the immigration status of defendants and criminals — prison and jail populations, and felonies prosecuted in the county — suggest that illegal immigrants commit crimes at a rate virtually proportionate to their numbers in the general population.

The reason the statistics are not available is because many municipalities are too "politically correct" to allow their law enforcement officers to check on legal residency status. -mm