Immigration and crime

With the US Presidential elections in full swing the sites I most often visit for informed opinion from the USA have been understandably preoccupied with the low-level skirmishing between McCain the decrepit and Obama the vacuous. All very interesting to US readers, no doubt, but not exactly riveting reading for yours truly.

Occasionally, though, something pops up which is worth note and today is one of those days. Over on American Thinker, J. James Estrada highlights some very important bits from two very important studies relating to immigration and crime. I know they are about the USA in particular, but I'm of the opinion that similar studies here - if they were ever to be conducted and if the results were ever allowed to be published would reveal similarly startling figures.

Figures like this........

In 2007, illegal immigrants accounted for:
16.5% of those sentenced for violent crimes
18.5% of those sentenced for property crimes
33.5% of those sentenced for the manufacture, sale or transport of drugs
50% of those sentenced for crimes related to "chop shops"*
35.8% of those sentenced for kidnapping
20.3% of those sentenced for felony DUI.

Benefits of immigration? Well it's been an enormous benefit to the legal profession - but apart from that ...........

* A chop shop is a business dealing with stolen cars and flogging off the parts. It was immortalised in the Kirsty MacColl song - "There's a guy works down the chop shop swears its Alvis"