Why Sanctuary Cities Are Safer : Code Switch : NPR
Tom K. Wong
This past Thursday  a new study conducted  Tom K. Wong   a political scientist at the University of California-San Diego  found that there are broad benefits for local jurisdictions that resist cooperating with federal immigration enforcement â they are safer in the aggregate and enjoy stronger economies. "For the first time we're kind of seeing that crime rates are lower when localities stay out of the business of federal immigration enforcement  " Wong  said.
 He  looked at federal data on immigration detainers  an ICE-initiated 48-hour hold on anyone identified as being in the country illegally. When someone is arrested and detained in a local jail  their fingerprints are cross-referenced with a federal database of undocumented immigrants. If the fingerprints match those of someone known to be in the country illegally  ICE can ask local law enforcement to hold that person as federal officials decide whether to start the deportation process. (There have been court battles over whether holding people for days without actual charges with these federal immigration detainer requests is in violation of the Constitution.)
 Wong  compared the the data from thousands of counties  those that ICE said did not honor detainer requests and those that did. "We don't have to make up a definition of what a sanctuary locality is "  Wong  said. "We have ICE telling us what it thinks a sanctuary county is."
On average  counties that did not comply with ICE requests experienced 35.5 fewer crimes per 10 000 people than those that did.  Wong  also found that counties that did not comply with detainer requests had higher household incomes  lower rates of unemployment  lower rates of poverty  and were less likely to have children under 18 in households receiving public benefits.
The crime numbers did not surprise  Wong . Research has shown that working with federal immigration enforcement made it harder for local police agencies to investigate crimes because witnesses and victims who were in the country illegally would be less likely to come forward if they thought they risked being detained and deported. It could be that sanctuary counties have immigrant populations who are more integrated into their social fabric and economies   he  said.
The research also revealed that smaller  more rural counties experienced the most significant impact from sanctuary policies on their crime rates (lower) and economies (stronger). Taken together   Wong  said  the net benefits to sanctuary cities would offset the impact of Trump's shame offensive on them. "The ultimate effect is going to be minimal "  he  said.
This past Thursday  a new study conducted   [TGT] found that there are broad benefits for local jurisdictions that resist cooperating with federal immigration enforcement â they are safer in the aggregate and enjoy stronger economies. "For the first time we're kind of seeing that crime rates are lower when localities stay out of the business of federal immigration enforcement   [TGT] said.
  [TGT]   looked at federal data on immigration detainers  an ICE-initiated 48-hour hold on anyone identified as being in the country illegally. When someone is arrested and detained in a local jail  their fingerprints are cross-referenced with a federal database of undocumented immigrants. If the fingerprints match those of someone known to be in the country illegally  ICE can ask local law enforcement to hold that person as federal officials decide whether to start the deportation process. (There have been court battles over whether holding people for days without actual charges with these federal immigration detainer requests is in violation of the Constitution.)
  [TGT] compared the the data from thousands of counties  those that ICE said did not honor detainer requests and those that did. "We don't have to make up a definition of what a sanctuary locality is "   [TGT] said. "We have ICE telling us what it thinks a sanctuary county is."
On average  counties that did not comply with ICE requests experienced 35.5 fewer crimes per 10 000 people than those that did.   [TGT] also found that counties that did not comply with detainer requests had higher household incomes  lower rates of unemployment  lower rates of poverty  and were less likely to have children under 18 in households receiving public benefits.
The crime numbers did not surprise   [TGT]  . Research has shown that working with federal immigration enforcement made it harder for local police agencies to investigate crimes because witnesses and victims who were in the country illegally would be less likely to come forward if they thought they risked being detained and deported. It could be that sanctuary counties have immigrant populations who are more integrated into their social fabric and economies   he  said.
The research also revealed that smaller  more rural counties experienced the most significant impact from sanctuary policies on their crime rates (lower) and economies (stronger). Taken together    [TGT] said  the net benefits to sanctuary cities would offset the impact of Trump's shame offensive on them. "The ultimate effect is going to be minimal "  he  said.