Do Illegal Immigrants Make Up a Significant Portion of the U.S. Prison Population?

President Trump's controversial tweet claimed that illegal immigrants make up nearly 23% of the U.S. prison population, but the accuracy of this claim is often debated. This article aims to dissect the data and provide a clear picture of the reality behind this claim.

Statistics and Facts

According to a government report, out of the Bureau of Prisons' total inmate population of 183,058 in the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year, 21% were immigrants—both legal and undocumented. Of these immigrants, at least 13% or 23,826 inmates were in the country unlawfully.

Common Crimes Committed by Immigrants

The most common crimes committed by these immigrants were drug-related offenses (46%) and immigration offenses (29%). It's worth noting that about half of the arrests made by the federal government are for immigration-related offenses, which helps explain the high proportion of immigrants in federal prisons.

Border Arrests and Legal Context

While Mr. Trump did not specify what the number referred to in his tweet, his figures need context. The U.S. Border Patrol reported a surge in families attempting to cross at the southwest border. The number of family units apprehended more than tripled from 8,120 in December 2017 to 27,518 in December 2018, overwhelming immigration officials and creating a new humanitarian crisis.

It is important to note that overall illegal border crossings have been declining for nearly two decades. In the 2017 fiscal year, border crossing apprehensions were at their lowest point since 1971. In the 2018 fiscal year, annual apprehensions did increase by 30% from the previous fiscal year.

The Case of Texas

In Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported that 186,000 unauthorized immigrants were booked into local jails from 2011 to 2018, facing 292,000 charges. However, it's crucial to consider the following caveats:

These offenses did not necessarily occur during that eight-year time frame. More than half of these charges were uncategorized. The charges Mr. Trump singled out did not always result in convictions. For example: 238 charges of homicide 13,559 for assault 1,689 for sexual assault 1,280 for weapons charges

For comparison, data from the Texas Department of Public Safety shows that some 7.5 million arrests were made from 2010 to 2017, including 6,161 for murder, 177,000 for aggravated assault, 14,000 for rape, and nearly 89,000 for weapons charges. A 2018 study from the libertarian Cato Institute found that in Texas, conviction and arrest rates for illegal immigrants were lower than those for native-born Americans for most crimes.

Conclusion

While illegal immigrants do make up a significant portion of the U.S. prison population, claims of that percentage needing to be corrected. The federal government report does not include data from state and local prisons, which houses 90% of all inmates in the United States.

It's crucial to consider the context and provide accurate data when discussing such issues to avoid misleading the public and creating unnecessary anxiety and misunderstanding.