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Do research before blaming immigrants

I have to wonder why Wendy Geesey did not honor the wishes of Mollie Tibbitts’ family in her hysterical and politically motivated rant blaming Democrats for Mollie Tibbetts’ death.

The Tibbetts family in formal statements and her father in her eulogy specifically asked that their tragedy not be used for political fodder and for anti-immigrant hate.

They knew the facts — that immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, commit far fewer crimes even in proportion to their fewer numbers than the average white male citizen.

Justice Department data show that undocumented immigrants make up a disportionate share of inmates sentenced for non-immigration crime. The Texas State Department of Public Safety data was inaccurately used by President Trump because they say their figures “do not attempt to allege that foreign nationals in the country illegally commit more crimes than any other group.”

A 2015 Cato Institute study says that Texas police arrests for all immigrants are 40 percent below that of the native born, who commit crimes at a 46 percent higher rate.

A study published in Criminology in March by Michael Light found that an increased concentration of undocumented immigrants in a community is associated with significant decreases in violent crime.

And USA Today on Aug. 22 cited a recent Department of Justice report in January that stated that, although the foreign born make up 13 percent of the population of our country, only 5.6 percent of them are inmates in our federal and state prisons and local jails combined.

Even Gen. Kelly in an April 2018 interview with NPR said about undocumented immigrants that, “They’re not criminals. They’re not MS-13 gang members” and that people crossing the borders undocumented do not pose a security threat.

So please, do a little research before going off on a hysterical rant.

Frances Hugg

Hollidaysburg

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