Uncovering the Truth: Why We Need Better Crime Data on Immigrants

There's a big problem with how we track crime data in the U. S. Right now, we don't know enough about the immigration status of people who commit crimes. This lack of information makes it hard to understand the full picture of crime involving immigrants. A senator from Indiana, Jim Banks, is pushing for changes. He wants the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make sure local and state police collect more detailed information. Specifically, he thinks they should track the immigration status, national origin, and ethnicity of people who are arrested. Right now, the system used by most police departments, called NIBRS, only asks for ethnicity as an optional detail. It doesn't require information about immigration status or national origin. Banks believes this needs to change. He says that most crimes happen at the local level, and if we don't track this data, we can't make informed decisions about immigration policy. Banks also points out that the DOJ does collect some data about non-citizens in state prisons. However, this data doesn't distinguish between legal immigrants and those who are in the country illegally. Plus, it often leaves out people in local jails, who make up about a third of the inmate population. This issue is important because studies have shown that non-citizens are overrepresented in certain types of crimes. For example, a 2018 study found that non-citizens made up 21% of those convicted of non-immigration crimes between 2011 and 2016. That's 2. 5 times their share of the population. The study also found that non-citizens accounted for a higher percentage of convictions in crimes like kidnapping, drug offenses, and money laundering. Banks argues that better data collection is in line with a 2017 executive order by President Trump. This order directed the DOJ and other federal agencies to improve crime data collection and sharing across different jurisdictions. In short, Banks believes that better data can help us understand the true impact of immigrant crime. This understanding is crucial for setting effective immigration policies.