Undocumented immigrants are NOT dangerous criminals.
An immigration status is not a verdict on a person. Research does not support labeling undocumented immigrants as a group of dangerous criminals.
The headline rejects a stereotype about a whole group. It does not mean that no undocumented individual commits a crime. Direct arrest-rate comparisons and studies of community crime answer different questions.
On this page
What direct arrest-rate evidence found
A study of Texas records from 2012–2018 found lower violent, property and drug felony arrest rates among undocumented immigrants than among US-born citizens. These are group rates, not a verdict on any individual. An arrest is not a conviction, and this historical one-state comparison is not a precise nationwide rate for today.
What studies following communities found
A study of 200 US metropolitan areas from 1970 to 2010 found that crime often fell as the share of residents born abroad rose. A county study covering 1990–2010 found lower homicide and robbery in urban counties, but no clear result in rural counties. These studies looked at immigrants generally, not just undocumented people. A review of 51 studies found a small overall link between more immigration and less crime. Results were clearer in studies following places over time, though many individual findings were uncertain.
What studies of undocumented immigration found
A study across all states and Washington, DC, from 1990 to 2014 generally found less violent crime as estimated undocumented populations rose. Results varied with the way the researchers compared the data. A neighborhood study using 2010–2018 records found less property crime and no clear overall change in violent crime; it found fewer serious assaults but more robberies.
Some studies found different results
A county study found more property crime alongside immigration, but could not establish a clear cause. A study of Mexican immigration reported less property crime but more serious assault. Different crimes, places and methods can give different answers.
A town’s total cannot tell us who committed a crime
A town’s crime total can change without telling us which residents committed the crimes. A survey asking about crimes people experienced also found less violent harm in counties with larger estimated undocumented populations, but mostly compared different places. It does not show that immigration growth caused the difference or identify individual offending rates.
Undocumented status does not tell us whether a person has committed a crime. Group stereotypes are not evidence of an individual’s conduct.
Keep in mind
- Other changes—such as policing, jobs and reporting—can help explain why crime rises or falls.
- A study of people born abroad is not automatically a study of undocumented people.
- These are historical studies, not a precise picture of crime among recent arrivals in 2026.
Questions about immigration & crime
Why counts, rates and groups matter
Compare the same population, offense and time period before drawing a conclusion.
An arrest rate, a conviction rate and a community crime total answer different questions. Group findings do not tell us whether a particular person committed a crime. Population estimates, policing, reporting and the way status is recorded can affect a comparison.
Sources you can check
Publication links open in a new tab, so you can keep your place here.
Immigration and Crime: Assessing a Contentious Issue (opens in a new tab)
Annual Review of Criminology, 2018
Reviews 51 community studies. The average relationship was small; individual results and methods varied.
Return to reading ↑Urban crime rates and the changing face of immigration: Evidence across four decades (opens in a new tab)
Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 2017
Follows 200 metropolitan areas across four decades. It studies people born abroad, not undocumented status alone.
Return to reading ↑Immigration and Violence in Rural versus Urban Counties, 1990–2010 (opens in a new tab)
The Sociological Quarterly, 2017
Compares urban and rural counties over time. Results differed between those settings.
Return to reading ↑Does undocumented immigration increase violent crime? (opens in a new tab)
Criminology, 2018
Studies estimated undocumented populations and violent crime across states. Most comparisons found a negative relationship, with uncertainty in some models.
Return to reading ↑Undocumented immigration and neighborhood crime (opens in a new tab)
Journal of Urban Affairs, 2026
Studies neighborhood crime. Different offenses did not all change in the same way.
Return to reading ↑Understanding the Impact of Immigration on Crime (opens in a new tab)
American Law and Economics Review, 2014
Reports a contrary result for property crime. Its design and population differ from direct status-specific arrest comparisons.
Return to reading ↑The Long-Run Effect of Mexican Immigration on Crime in US Cities: Evidence from Variation in Mexican Fertility Rates (opens in a new tab)
American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 2015
Studies Mexican immigration and reports different results for property crime and serious assault. Country of origin is not immigration status.
Return to reading ↑Undocumented immigration and violent victimization (opens in a new tab)
Criminology, September 2026
Studies violent harm people reported experiencing. Community exposure cannot identify who committed a crime.
Return to reading ↑Null by Design: Statistical Dilution in Immigration-Crime Research (opens in a new tab)
British Journal of Political Science, 2026
Questions how pooled measures can hide differences between groups or places. Method choices affect what a study can establish.
Return to reading ↑Comparing crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born US citizens in Texas (opens in a new tab)
PNAS
Compares historical Texas felony arrest rates by immigration status. Arrests are not convictions, and one state is not a national rate.
Return to reading ↑
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