USATODAY Report: U.S. Border Cities Are Safe

USATODAY today released an in-depth report that challenges the myth of the dangerous, open border. As we all know, there is just no such thing.

Not only has the border been totally militarized by President Obama, people who live along the border have been saying “we feel safe” for years.

The report examined crime data for cities at 30, 50 and 100 miles of the Mexican border. Every single one has had crime rates lower than the U.S. average for the past 10 years, which has also dropped.

From the article:

U.S. border cities were statistically safer on average than other cities in their states. Those border cities, big and small, have maintained lower crime rates than the national average, which itself has been falling.

The appearance of an out-of-control border region, though, has had wide-ranging effects — stalling efforts to pass a national immigration reform law, fueling stringent anti-immigration laws in Arizona and elsewhere, and increasing the amount of federal tax dollars going to build more fencing and add security personnel along the southwestern border.

The perception of rising violence is so engrained that 83% of Americans said they believe the rate of violence along the southwestern border is higher than national rates, according to a recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 999 adults.

The findings “are contrary to conventional speculation that the border is an out-of-control place,” said Steven Messner, a criminologist and sociology professor at the University at Albany-SUNY, who reviewed USA TODAY’s analysis.

So, can we get serious about comprehensive immigration reform now?