More listening

There is one concern that could detrimentally affect the ability to listen even if you are trying very hard to do so.  I was confronted with this concern recently, and don't worry, it was not about gun violence.

An acquaintance told me that 30% of the inmates in the Federal detention system are illegal aliens and it is costing us billions of tax dollars yearly.  I asked him to repeat the comment so I was certain I understood his words, and so he did.  I had heard correctly, so I repeated back to him his comment but prefaced it with "Are you saying that ..."  Yes, he replied, absolutely, and isn't that just terrible.  This was news to me, so I carefully changed the subject to a non-controversial one.  Later I researched the substance of his comment and found that the US Dept of Justice reports that 14% (not 30%) of Federal inmates are illegal aliens and most of those are guilty of immigration-related non-violent violations.  It is important to note that there are not a large percentage of inmates in Federal prisons that have committed violent crimes.  Most violent crimes are prosecuted in state courts, and in state prisons illegal aliens make up less than 5% of the inmates.

What had happened?  In an honest attempt to communicate, I had listened and understood what I had been told.  The problem was that my attempt to listen had been subjected to manipulation.  The acquaintance had wanted me to understand a false statement, and accept it as the truth.  Did he care about the cost of housing illegal aliens in Federal prisons?  Of course not.  His intent was to show that illegal aliens were a severe threat to the safety of Americans by implying that there exists a viscous crime wave rampant in the country and that illegal aliens are the scourge we should all fear.  They have unleashed an Hispanic epidemic of murder, robbery, and even rape.  And, of course, if you support his candidate for office, this terror will end.

What is the truth?  Studies have repeatedly shown that of all ethnic groups, undocumented young men from Central America have the lowest rate of violent crime incarceration.  Second and third generation Mexican-Americans, for example, have the same rate of violence as whites.

Is it not difficult to understand why illegal aliens have low crime rates.  What have they done with their lives?  They have left their families and made the arduous sacrifice of leaving their birthplace in an attempt to find a better life in a strange land.  Their motivation was not to find a new land to commit crimes, but to find work and to become what immigrants to these shores have always wanted.  They wanted to be Americans.

So even if you try very hard to listen, do so with your eyes wide open.  As President Reagan said:  Trust, but Verify.