Do immigrants affect violent crime? - Guest Post by Dan Murray

Special Note: Dan Murray of InterWorks created this visualization of crime in the US to help viewers look into the supposed increase in crime from immigration.

From DM:

The new immigration law in Arizona is controversial. The triggering event for the enactment of the law was the murder of a police officer. I wondered if the influx of illegal aliens in Arizona correlated with increased crime in the last decade. See for yourself. How does your state compare?

I speculate that drug trafficking has more to do with violent crime than illegal immigration. What do you think? The data on drug crime seems a little sketchy to me. Do any of you know about any reliable data sets on crime related specifically to drug trafficking?

Data from FBI Uniform Crime Reports.