Does immigration really increase crime?

Study shows that migrants don't cause crime rates to increase but false perceptions endure Many people who oppose immigration say that it increases crime. But does immigration really affect crime? Studying a country whose proportion of migrants has tripled in less than ten years, researchers find immigration significantly impacts people's perceptions of crime but has no effect on actual crime. The research, led by Nicolas Ajzenman , a professor of economics at McGill University, shows that while migrants don't cause crime rates to increase, false perceptions endure anyway. -Many people seem to believe a connection exists between crime and immigration. We wanted to explore why this is the case, by looking at the example of Chile, a country recently exposed to a massive influx of immigrants,- says Ajzenman. -In Chile, migrants represented close to 6.5 per cent of the population in 2018. Not only did the magnitude change, but also the composition of immigrants changed strongly in recent years, with the arrival of people from Venezuela and Haiti, a trend is similar to other Latin American countries,- he explains.