Incarcerated Immigrants in 2016: Their Numbers, Demographics, and Countries of Origin

Via the Cato Institute:

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has expanded interior immigration enforcement and made it easier for states and local governments to apprehend and detain illegal immigrants.1 His actions are often based on the widespread perception that illegal immigrants are a significant and disproportionate source of crime in the United States.2 This brief uses American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau to analyze incarcerated immigrants according to their citizenship and legal status for 2016. The data show that all immigrants—legal and illegal—are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans relative to their shares of the population. By themselves, illegal immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than native-born Americans.

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