In the next series of blog posts, I want to cover the issue of criminality and crime surrounding the notion of ‘illegal immigration.’ Hopefully, some of the information is new and compelling, and makes for an interesting read.

Contrary to popular belief, maintaining ‘illegal’ presence in the United States is NOT a crime. Why do I feel compelled to note this today? Because I am tired of reading comments like “illegal immigrants are criminals, they should be deported!” Or “why are these students even allowed to register in our schools, they should be handed over to INS, prosecuted and deported.” Even worse are the misguided blog posts now and then that hype the criminal element of illegal immigration, depicting us as rapists and murderers who are responsible for the new crime wave and overcrowding jails and prisons. Never mind the fact that crime rates have declined steadily for the past two decades and there isn’t a preponderance of evidence to prove that immigrants, or illegal aliens, commit more crimes than Americans in general.