President-elect Donald Trump is entering the White House with an ambitious day one agenda of executive orders and policies, chief among them a mass deportation plan that would target millions of undocumented immigrants. Trump has mentioned scaling back the federal program granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of immigrants, deputizing local police departments to act as ICE agents and targeting immigrants with criminal records. On the campaign trail and after the election, Trump has argued these efforts are necessary to cut down on what he calls “migrant crime.” However, despite repeated claims by Trump and others that immigrants are bringing more crime to the U.S., Jacob Stowell, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice, says the data clearly shows otherwise.
“There’s absolutely no evidence –– none whatsoever –– that that’s what’s happening on this unprecedented level,” Stowell says. “Not only is crime not going up, it’s not even remaining static. It’s continuing this downward trend as immigration continues to grow.” National crime rates peaked in the 1980s, but between 1980 and 1990 it dropped by 30.8% and since then has fallen dramatically year over year, Stowell notes. In fact, almost every major form of crime, from violent crime to property crime, has decreased in that time period. It’s not just a historical trend either: Between 2023 and 2024, violent crime fell by 10.3%.
