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American News posted an article in defense of some recent comments by Donald Trump.

They say:

'the Center for Immigration Studies reported that “57 of the 76 fugitive murderers most wanted by the FBI were foreign-born."'

American News doesn't appear to be a reliable source, and I have been unable to confirm that statistic.

Are there studies that support the claim that the majority of fugitive murderers most wanted by the FBI are foreign-born?

Additionally, how many of those fugitives were born in Mexico (and hence add some relevant evidence to support Trump's claim)?

Oddthinking
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TaylorAllred
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    It seems that you are questioning a claim that is not being made by Donald Trump per se, but instead by someone who attempts to use numbers (real or false) to back up Donald Trump's statements. – March Ho Jul 10 '15 at 06:00
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    Also, I disagree with your assertion that the [CIS study](http://www.cis.org/sites/cis.org/files/articles/2009/crime.pdf) is fake. It seems to be relatively well argued with sources. One important point is that the claim that made is that the foreign-born wanted fugitive murderers comprise 57% of the total, not 57 out of 76. It also makes the observation that there is a good reason for fugitives to be foreign-born. – March Ho Jul 10 '15 at 06:06
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    @GeorgeChalhoub I am not contending that this question is not notable, I am saying that this question is not actually about Donald Trump's claim (which is vague and completely unsuitable for this site), but the CIS's claim, which is significantly different (and which is suitable for this site). – March Ho Jul 10 '15 at 06:10
  • The reason I questioned the CIS study was not because of the study itself but on the website it was used (americannews.com) did not cite sources, and I seemed to be unable to find the study you posted. When I googled the quote I posted all it brought up were other news sites. – TaylorAllred Jul 10 '15 at 06:20
  • I agree with March Ho. I saw the title, and came to edit it to be about the claim being made, not about who made it. However, I am not sure what that is. That Mexican immigrants to the US are criminals? drug-dealers? rapists? Trump *didn't* claim the majority of fugitive murderers are Mexican. That's a separate claim. – Oddthinking Jul 10 '15 at 06:44
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    @TaylorAllred: I have substantially refocussed the question. Please check you are happy that the edit still addresses your question. – Oddthinking Jul 10 '15 at 06:52

1 Answers1

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The Center for Immigration Studies released a study in 2009 which makes the claim given in the question. Its claim was misquoted (as 57/76 instead of 57% of 76):

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It gives the source as the FBI Most Wanted For Murders List.

The CIS study further stated that an overwhelming majority (35/43) of them were Mexican.

Assuming that the list has not changed significantly in composition since 2009, we can directly fact-check this list to verify this claim. A cursory sample of the wanted criminals listed shows that indeed a significant proportion of them are foreign born, and the majority are Mexican.

March Ho
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    Well, I guess this was pretty straight forward answer, +1 from me (if I could). So it looks like while the study is correct, the website I posted was using it to blow things out of proportion. Thanks for the link to the study itself, it's a good read. – TaylorAllred Jul 10 '15 at 06:27
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    It's kind of obvious, if they were American born and residing in America it would also imply they would be easier to catch by the FBI. I'm not surprised the time foreigners would stay on the list would be longer. – Spork Jul 10 '15 at 10:09