JD Vance points to ‘Gangs of New York’ to back up claim that immigration leads to crime

Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, is in the news with comments on immigration.  He defended past comments on immigration by pointing to the 2002 Martin Scorsese movie Gangs of New York as an example of immigration leading to higher crime rates.

At a campaign appearance at the Milwaukee Police Association, Vance was asked about his comments in 2021 in which he claimed past waves of immigration led to increased crime. The Ohio senator responded by referencing the 2002 film in which an Irish man, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, infiltrates a violent anti-immigrant gang in the mid-19th century.

“Has anybody ever seen the movie ‘Gangs of New York’? That’s what I’m talking about,” Vance said. “We know that when we have these massive ethnic enclaves form in our country, it can sometimes lead to higher crime rates.”

He later added: “What happens when you have massive amounts of illegal immigration, it actually starts to create ethnic conflict, it creates higher crime rates. We’ve certainly seen that over the last few years.”

One response to Vance’s comments from the New Republic:  “Citing a fictional movie is probably not the best way to defend controversial comments, especially since the major villain of the movie is an anti-immigrant nativist crime boss based on a real person, which people on X were happy to point out.”

So, JD Vance ALSO hates the Irish and Italians? Nice, nice. This is a winning campaign. https://t.co/TXl2hYBHqy

— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) August 16, 2024

Washington Post columnist Philip Bump pointed out on X that “the most brutal, vicious killer in [Gangs of New York] is the nativist who loathes immigrants.”

Senator Vance’s claim about immigrant propensity for crime conflicts with many studies finding that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

KJ