The criminalization of immigration in the United States Posted on April 27, 2017 by Thomas Azar Studies over the past century have examined the issue of crimes being committed by immigrants, and they have confirmed two truths: immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than natural-born Americans; and high rates of immigration are associated with lower crime rates. Walter Ewing, Ph.D., Daniel E. Martínez, Ph.D. and Rubén G. Rumbaut, Ph.D. have researched the issue, and have a report on their studies at the American Immigration Council’s website. A PDF of the report is available for download here.