Fact Check: Do illegal immigrants commit more crimes?

A big group of people who come to live in another country sometimes get called illegal immigrants, and some people say they do more crimes than others, let's find out if that’s really true!

Imagine you're playing a game with your friends. Some kids are from the same neighborhood, and others came from far away. Now, suppose someone says the kids who came from far away make more trouble in the game, like taking extra turns or hiding toys.

That’s kind of what happens when we look at illegal immigrants and crime. Studies check how many crimes happen in areas with lots of new people versus those without. It turns out that illegal immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than people who were already living there!

But sometimes, news stories focus on the few people who cause trouble, like one kid who took all the candy, and make it seem like all the kids from far away are causing problems.

So just like in your game, the real story is more balanced: illegal immigrants don’t commit more crimes than others, sometimes they even commit fewer!