Rep. Schotlen justifies voting for anti-immigration legislation during media interview

On May 1st, there was an interview posted on the C-Span site, where a C-Span reporter had a brief interview with Rep. Hillary Scholten about tariffs and US immigration policy.

Rep. Scholten’s response on tariffs was to essentially blame President Trump, with no strong analysis on why what Trump did was bad for people. I’m more interested in the comments from Scholten regarding US immigration policy, which begins about 5:40 into the interview.

Rep. Scholten’s initial comments were to talk about her history of working on immigration issues and her tenure with the Department of Justice. Scholten said several times that she knows the law and how to defend the rights of immigrants. 

The 3rd Congressional Representative then pivoted to talking about how the first Trump Administration did not adhere to the “rule of law.” Scholten points out that the Trump Administration is deporting US citizens and children with cancer. The Congresswoman also said that her constituents were contacting her and saying enough. 

The C-Span reporter then said, “You were one of the many Democrats that supported the Laken Riley Act. What led you to make that decision?” Scholten responded by talking about the Ruby Garcia case, where she was killed by her boyfriend. However, voting for the Laken Riley Act isn’t about people to violence to other people, it is about criminalizing those who are undocumented. When people commit violence, it has nothing to do with their immigration status, it simply has to do that they did harm to someone.

What is really at issue here is that politicians want us to buy into the idea that we should fear immigrants – especially undocumented immigrants – and equate immigrants with increased crime. 

Fortunately, the facts can dismantle the mantra of “undocumented immigrants are criminals.” The National Institute of Justice wrote in September of 2024, “An NIJ-funded study examining data from the Texas Department of Public Safety estimated the rate at which undocumented immigrants are arrested for committing crimes. The study found that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S. citizens for violent and drug crimes and a quarter the rate of native-born citizens for property crimes.”

The American Immigration Council compared crime data to demographic data from 1980 to 2022, the most recent data available. The data showed that as the immigrant share of the population grew, the crime rate declined. In 1980, immigrants made up 6.2 percent of the U.S. population, and the total crime rate was 5,900 crimes per 100,000 people. By 2022, the share of immigrants had more than doubled, to 13.9 percent, while the total crime rate had dropped by 60.4 percent, to 2,335 crimes per 100,000 people. Specifically, the violent crime rate fell by 34.5 percent and the property crime rate fell by 63.3 percent.

The Migration Policy Institute wrote in October of last year, “A growing volume of research demonstrates that not only do immigrants commit fewer crimes, but they also do not raise crime rates in the U.S. communities where they settle. In fact, some studies indicate that immigration can lower criminal activity, especially violent crime, in places with inclusive policies and social environments where immigrant populations are well established.”

In an NPR story from March of 2024, it states: “Some of the most extensive research comes from Stanford University. Economist Ran Abramitzky found that since the 1960s, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people.”

In a Brennan Center for Justice article from May of last year, they write: “When looking specifically at the relationship between undocumented immigrants and crime, researchers come to similar conclusions. Numerous studies show that undocumented immigration does not increase violent crime; research examining crime rates in so-called sanctuary cities also found no discernable difference when compared to similarly situated cities without sanctuary policies. One study that focused on drug crimes and driving under the influence found that unauthorized immigration status was associated with reductions in arrests for those offenses.” 

Rep. Scholten then ends her response to the question about her stance on immigration policing by say that during the 2024 election, the American people spoke pretty loudly about wanting more to be done about immigration enforcement. This true, but what many Americans wanted was to prevent people from coming to the US, especially if they were undocumented. If you look at Rep. Scholten’s political ads from last fall, you can she that she took a very pro-militarize the border approach, which I deconstructed.

In the end, Rep. Hillary Scholten did not condemn the Trump Administration’s mass deportation executive order, in fact she didn’t even mention it. Rep. Scholten only stated that she was incensed by US citizens being deported, along with children who have cancer. Rep. Scholten’s weak response exposes where she really stands, which is to criminalize undocumented immigrants and militarize the US/Mexican border.