Unauthorized Immigrant Charged in University Student’s Killing

The story

Yesterday, authorities in Iowa filed charges against an unauthorized immigrant in connection to a recovered body believed to be that of 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared from her home a month ago.

The case has revived a long-standing controversy over whether unauthorized immigrants commit more violent crimes.

Details

Cristhian Rivera, the accused, worked for an Iowa farm owned by the brother of a prominent Iowa Republican. Investigators said Rivera was in the country without proper legal documentation.

In the wake of the arrest, many Republicans connected the killing to what they view as a lax immigration system that allows criminals into the U.S. too easily.

President Donald Trump alluded to the case at a rally in West Virginia yesterday:

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich reportedly emailed news organization Axios to ensure that it would be covering the story. According to Axios, Gingrich wrote:

“If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble. If we can be blocked by Manafort-Cohen, etc., then GOP could lose [the House] badly… We are living in two alternative political universes. In one, Manafort-Cohen is dispositive. In the other, illegal immigrants killing Mollie Tibbetts is dispositive.”

Trump has made further crackdown on illegal immigration a core policy of his administration. He often says that people living in the country illegally commit widespread crime, citing among other things the indictments of 11 suspected MS-13 gang members from El Salvador charged in connection with the slayings of two Virginia teens.

Trump also has held events at the White House with members of “angel families,” whose relatives were killed by immigrants.

Although Trump says legal U.S. residents are less likely to commit crime, several studies from social scientists and the libertarian think tank Cato Institute find that isn’t accurate, and that states with a higher share of people living in the country illegally have lower violent crime rates.

What do you think?

Should the Mollie Tibbetts case have any bearing on immigration policy? Is it emblematic of a Democratic Party failure to deal with crime effectively? Why or why not? Hit Take Action to tell your reps what you think, then share your thoughts below.

—Sara E. Murphy

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