Immigrants Less Likely Than Natives to Rape and Pillage

Uh-oh. Looks like one of the myths that the anti-immigrant crowd likes to peddle is about to be dispelled.

Study: Incarceration rate lower for immigrants

Immigrants in California are far less likely to land in prison than their U.S.-born counterparts, a finding that defies the perception that immigration and crime are connected, according to a study released Monday.

Foreign-born residents make up 35 percent of the state's overall population, but only 17 percent of the adult prison population, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, which conducted the research.

Although the article focuses on legal immigrants, it extends its findings to the incentives faced by "illegals".

And those here illegally have incentive to avoid contact with the law, which could lead to detection of their immigration status.

Certainly, there are many factors that influence such issues, and many things can be debated. But one thing is for certain – xenophobes are wrong to try to paint immigrants (legal or otherwise) as inherently prone to criminal activity. They are not a menace to society.