“It was hiding in the celery," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy. "Obviously, we threw away the celery. That didn’t make it to the store.”

  • TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    There’s a lot of assumptions here.

    Significant isn’t specific. A specific number would give us an idea if the rate of crime committed by undocumented persons exceeds, meets, or continues to fall short of the other two groups.

    Next, you’re assuming that the victims of violent crimes by undocumented workers are other undocumented workers. This, to some degree makes sense. But it’s not 100%.

    Next, poverty in of itself isn’t sufficient to predict rates of crime. Crime is a choice taken when there aren’t other avenues available. Arguably, the reasons undocumented peoples move here is because their prospects are better here. That is to say, they chose to leave their people to come here instead of staying there and commiting crime. This isn’t, obviously, specific. But it’s a factor you didn’t consider.

    Finally, what do you mean by class? There’s a lot of usages.

    This isn’t an argument to say you are wrong. It’s an argument that you have been specific or open to other factors.

    • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      Of course it’s not specific, which is the inherent problem with these stats. Crimes that are not reported, cannot be factored into the crime rates.

      But you rarely see this amount of skepticism when people point out how rapes and sexual assaults are also significantly underreported.

      In both instances you have victim groups who less likely to go to the police and report the crimes.

      I am not saying poor people are intrinsically more deviant, or criminal in nature. Many factors play into the increased crime rates of people in poverty, including but not limited to, desperation and over policing.

      I also never said that undocumented migrants couldn’t have crime rates that trend below national averages. I said that the notion that their crime rates were half the national average was bogus, for reasons that you seem to acknowledge as well.

      My point wasn’t to provide the framework for calculating the actual rates, or more approximate estimations, because frankly I don’t have that skill set. But then again, no ideas I laid out in these comments originated from me either. These are all well known problems with that bogus stat.

      Either people think disinformation, or “fake news”, is bad, or they don’t. They can’t cry and scream about it when MAGA people use it, and then turn around and use it they when they feel it’s politically expedient.

      • TempermentalAnomaly@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        The actual crime rates are probably much closer to the equivalent crime rates of the cities and neighborhoods that align to with their own economic status

        I was not defending the stats. I was critiquing your analysis and the conclusion you reached.