Where is the Fire? Immigrants and Crime in California

This study finds no support for the presumed nexus between immigration and crime. Indeed, during the period from 1991 to 2008, when immigration to the state soared, rates of violent crime and serious property crime in the state as a whole, as well as in the counties and cities along the border with Mexico, declined significantly. In San Diego County, for example, the violent crime rate went down by 58% during this period and the rate of serious property crime declined by 35%. Although this study does not posit a correlation between an increase in immigration and a decline in crime (other factors may have contributed to the decline), the "data offer no support for the assertion that immigration increases crime..."

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