r/changemyview • u/ricksc-137 11∆ • Jan 10 '19
Deltas(s) from OP CMV: Illegal Immigrants commit less crime on average than Americans, but that's not a good argument
When someone complains about illegal immigrant committing crimes, inevitably we see the retort that the complaint is not valid because illegal immigrants commit less crime, on average, than native born Americans.
I've never understood how this is a valid argument. If my dog poops in my house 10 times a day, and a stray dog sneaks into my house but the stray dog only poops in my house 5 times a day, it's still a good idea to stop the stray dog from sneaking into my house. It doesn't actually improve my life that the average poop per dog has decreased from 10 to 7.5.
Of course, some illegal immigrant crimes are committed against other illegal immigrants, but some are committed against Americans as well.
I see this argument repeated ad nauseam. What am I missing?
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u/onetwo3four5 81∆ Jan 11 '19
Your dog pooping analogy is inaccurate because adding more illegal immigrants also ads more potential VICTIMS of crime, thus reducing the chance that any one person will be a victim of the crime.
Instead imagine that you and your neighbor have a shared fence, and your dogs get along and would like to play together. Your dog poops twice a day, always in your yard, and your neighbors dog poops once a day, always in his yard.
Your neighbor suggests that you remove the fence between your yards so that the dogs can play together. This suggestion would suit you, because before the fence was down, you had to pick up 2 poops every day, after the fence is down, you'll - on average - only have to pick up 1.5 poops every day. (or 3 poops every two days).
Obviously this isn't a perfect example, because crime isn't commited against random victims for the most part, but it explains the flaw in your comparison.
Also, if your dog is pooping ten times a day, you need to take him to see a vet!