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Old May 12, 2009, 12:11 PM   #12
JuanCarlos
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Join Date: July 22, 2006
Posts: 2,459
Quote:
over one third of inmates are mexican.
Closer to a quarter, actually (27% as of 2005). The one-third number is probably just for federal inmates, though I don't know. 27% includes federal all the way down to local.

Looking around at some numbers it seems like, depending what assumptions you're working with, the number of Mexicans killed by guns smuggled illegally from the U.S. and the number of Americans killed by illegal immigrants are roughly equivalent. Which is not to say equal, but so say that they're close enough (and they vary widely enough based on the aforementioned assumptions) such that it's not really possible to say conclusively which is more.

EDIT: Actually, it appears that 27% may just be for federal prisons. Note that those were from that GAO. Now I'm seeing numbers from BJS that suggest the number for all prisons may be significantly lower...more like single digits. Also, most of these studies seem to only categorize into "citizens" and "non-citizens," and one should note that not all non-citizens are here illegally (though I'd accept that the bulk of those that wind up in jails or prisons may well be). Lastly, obviously not all illegal aliens, let alone non-citizens, are "mexican." Though I'd also accept that the bulk of illegal aliens probably are Mexican, and that if you're using "Mexican" to refer to all Latin American immigrants as well that number only grows...still, you've got significant populations of non-Latino illegal immigrants across the nation that must be considered. I'm curious, where precisely did this "one third" number come from? I see no way you can possibly make these numbers add up to that.

EDIT: Also, the more numbers I find the more I'm leaning towards the homicides committed by illegal immigrants (particularly Mexican illegal immigrants) being the lower number.

Last edited by JuanCarlos; May 12, 2009 at 12:24 PM.
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