President Biden’s announcement yesterday that he will no longer run for re-election and his endorsement of Kamala Harris is rightfully shaking up the race for the White House. I will analyze this historical event later this week. Meanwhile, I will continue my series of the unbelievable Trump.  

Crime – On my blog last week, I brought facts to bear on former president Trump’s promises on the border and the budget. Today, let’s compare Trump’s affirmations about violent crime in the United States with the facts. Trump, like most opposition candidates, describes the contemporary situation in the worst possible ways. He stated that the country is “awash in bloodshed and violent crime” and that “our crime rate is going up while crime statistics all over the world are going down”. According to Trump, violent crime has increased under the Biden administration, and this is due to Biden’s “failed” policies. The truth is quite different.

Fact #1 – Violent crime actually increased during Trump’s administration and has decreased during Biden’s. In fact, the largest recent annual increase in the murder rate took place in 2020 (Trump’s last year in office, not under Biden’s watch). In that year, murders rose by almost 30% and assaults by more than 10% (Source: FBI). During the first two years of Biden’s presidency, murders fell by 7%, and in 2023 by 13%, now approaching pre-Covid levels.

Immigrants and Crime – It is a sad fact of our national history that immigrants have frequently been scapegoated, that is, blamed for the ills of society that they did not commit. This has happened to the Irish, the Italians, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Chinese, and many other immigrants. It was easy for white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants to blame newcomers to our country, especially if they were people of color or if they practiced a different religion.

Trump has continued this practice of scapegoating. He began his first campaign in 2015 claiming, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best…. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Trump has continued his anti-immigrant rants for over nine years. And now, he bolsters his lies about increased crime, by accusing foreign governments of emptying their jails and insane asylums and sending these “bad apples” to our southern border. Many MAGA supporters believe these lies, but they shouldn’t.

Fact #2 – Foreign born immigrants have a much lower crime rate than U.S. citizens. There is parallel data such as when undocumented immigration plummeted in 2020, murders rose by 30%. Nevertheless, there are numerous studies that back up my affirmation. I refer my readers to the book “Immigration and Crime: Taking Stock” by Kubrin and Ousey for an analysis of these studies. Common sense must also be considered. Why would undocumented immigrants, after risking their lives to travel to and cross over the border and put down roots in a new country, then expose their families and themselves to deportation, by committing violent crime?

As always, I encourage all my readers, especially my MAGA friends, to check out these figures for themselves to see if Trump is telling the truth or lying. In tomorrow’s post, I will shine the light on Trump’s ad nauseum claim that the 2020 election was stolen.