Calculating The Cost Of Crimes Committed By Illegal Immigrants

Let’s make this very clear: the cost of crimes committed by illegal immigrants should be zero. Zero.

Why?

They shouldn’t be in the country to begin with—if you’re not here, you can’t commit crimes. Simple.

Is that a tautology? Sure. But that doesn’t make it wrong.

That being said, I have two points I’d like to make:

1. Illegal aliens cause a disproportionately large share of America’s crime—despite what open-borders activists claim.

2. This crime costs a lot, both financially and socially. Furthermore, the costs cannot be adequately quantified.

I’ve also done a similar analysis for the cost of alien crimes in California and Texas, which you should check out.

And if you’re interested in the bigger picture, I’ve written a fairly comprehensive article on illegal immigration in the US, that covers everything you need to know.

1. Illegal Immigrants Are More Likely To Commit Crimes Than American Citizens

This is a fact. It’s not up for debate.

The left is lying to you.

A very thorough report published in the National Review looked at incarceration rates for homicides in New York, Texas, Florida, Arizona, and California, and found that illegal immigrants were significantly more likely to murder people than legal immigrants—and by implication, citizens.

In fact, in New York illegals were 350% more likely to be imprisoned for homicide than legal immigrants.

The operative word here is imprisoned. Many illegals are part of gangs and cartels—they rarely get caught.

Therefore, the real number is probably much higher.

The distinction between citizen and alien is even larger in “low-level” crime. For example, 75% of all federal drug possession sentences were given to illegal immigrants, and 40% of all federal crimes were committed in jurisdictions bordering Mexico.

Coincidence? No. Where do you think the drugs are coming from?

There’s lots more where that came from. Check out this article on the Daily Wire, which curates some interesting statistics.

And let’s not forget, these aren’t just statistics we’re talking about—these are real crimes committed against real people.

Thousands of your fellow Americans have been murdered, raped, or robbed by people that shouldn’t have been on our soil.

By allowing illegal immigration to continue, the government is abdicating its primary duty: to keep its citizen’s safe.

2. Crimes Committed By Illegal Aliens Cost $16.1 Billion Annually

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), crimes committed by undocumented people cost $16.1 billion a year—$8.3 billion at the state and local level, $7.8 billion federally.

What a waste of money.

And frankly, this doesn’t even come close to the true costs of crime.

Why?

FAIR only tabulates the tangible cost (the cost of policing, courts etc.), not the intangible costs (pain and suffering, lost time working, long-term medical costs).

A study which estimated the average intangible costs of crimes in California (2008 dollars) shows that the real cost of crime is much higher than the stated costs for most serious crimes—especially for violent and sexual crimes.

The intangible costs are estimated based on special damages awarded by court proceedings in civil litigation.

Type of Offense Tangible Cost Intangible Cost Total Cost Murder $1,285,146 $8,442,000 $8,982,907 Rape/Sexual Assault $41,252 $199,642 $240,776 Aggravated Assault $19,472 $95,023 $107,020 Robbery $21,373 $22,575 $42,310 Arson $16,429 $5,133 $21,103 Motor Vehicle Theft $10,534 $262 $10,772 Stolen Property $7,974 N/A $7,974 Household Burglary $6,169 $321 $6,462 Embezzlement $5,480 N/A $5,480 Forgery and Counterfeiting $5,265 N/A $5,265 Fraud $5,032 N/A $5,032 Vandalism $4,860 N/A $4,860 Larceny/Theft $3,523 $10 $3,532

When you consider the intangible costs, the cost of crime committed by illegal immigrants could double or triple, and still be reasonable.

But I suppose we’re lucky in the grand scheme of things—we could be Sweden.