No Migrant Crime Wave In NYC

By Arthur Schwartz

Fueled by a barrage of what are essentially racist taunts by Republicans nationwide, desperate to elect Donald Trump by stoking fear of an invasion of criminal immigrants into the US, many New Yorkers have looked at a few awful incidents, and come to believe that the homeless South and Central American immigrants which NYC, and so many of its citizens are trying to help integrate into housing, jobs and schools, have caused a crime wave.

Murad Awawdah, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, in an interview with the NY Daily News, called the recent “migrant crime wave” messaging “scapegoating,” adding that this kind of misinformation makes the city more unsafe for everyone.

“It’s incredibly alarming that they’re championing and pushing false rhetoric and misinformation that is going to potentially create more incidents like what happened in Times Square [on February 8], where vigilantes [from the Guardian Angels] attacked a New Yorker on the street because they thought he was a migrant,” he said.

The city’s police department data shows that crime is slightly down this year, and past studies don’t show a connection between the new arrival of migrants and higher crime. “If we look at real data, and we look at study after study, it shows that immigrant communities make communities safer,” Awawdah said.

A study from the American Society of Criminology in 2018 showed that a jump in immigration did not correspond to a jump in violent crimes like murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. A study from the same authors in 2017 found that dramatic increases in undocumented immigrants did not increase rates of drug and alcohol arrests, drug overdoses or DUI deaths.

According to a report in the February 11 Daily News, in New York City major crimes have dropped slightly so far in 2024, down 1.7% as compared to the same time period in 2023. Robbery is the only category that’s seen a significant rise, with 9% more instances in 2024 to date, as compared to the same period last year. Murder, rape, burglary and grand larceny auto are all lower than last year, and felony assault and grand larceny have ticked just slightly up, by less than one percentage point. Petit larceny is down by just over one percentage point since this time in 2023.

In Brooklyn’s 63rd Precinct, where the sprawling Floyd Bennet Field immigrant tent shelter is located, major crime categories are down 7% from this time last year, with 93 major crimes so far in 2024, compared to 100 instances for the same time frame last year. Grand larceny is down by 22%. Petit larceny, which includes crimes like shoplifting, is up by around 31%. Despite these facts, there has been a major outcry about “rising crime.”

In the East Village, where hundreds of migrants waited outside the city’s migrant reticketing center in freezing temperatures for a new shelter bed to become available, crime is also down 7.5% from this time last year.

In the Midtown precinct that includes the Candler Building (the site of the brawl between migrants and cops in January and most of Times Square), there’s been just one less incident so far this year than last year. Robbery is down by about 43% this year to date in the 14th precinct as compared to last year. Petit larceny down by around 1%.

Is the forced transfer by Texas Governor Abbott of 100,000 migrants to NYC overtopping our housing and other resources? Absolutely yes – but the City is managing to deal with it because of a booming Wall Street. But do we have a “migrant crime wave?” If you believe that I have an election fraud conspiracy the purveyors of that story would love you to believe.