To: Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper

Maddow, Cooper, news anchors: Expose the GOP lie that crime rates are higher among undocumented i...

We must stop the racist, untrue attacks on undocumented immigrants coming from Republican National Convention speakers. Undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens, but RNC speakers continue to spew misinformation in an attempt to sow fear and mistrust. News anchors need to step up and correct these dangerous lies.

Why is this important?

Several speakers at the Republican National Convention have been reinforcing the falsehood that undocumented immigrants are more likely to commit crimes, playing to the GOP's xenophobic agenda to "build a wall."

There is no data supporting their false claims. In reality, research has shown that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens. (1)

If this misinformation goes unchecked, this kind of racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric can turn into immigration policies—like Trump's wall—that will hurt communities of undocumented immigrants, break up families, and fuel further division and distrust in our country. These speakers have a national stage, and leaders with the authority and platform to correct these mistruths must step up to do so.

Tell Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper and other reporters covering the RNC to help counter the anti-immigration rhetoric that affects more than 11 million people in the United States with this simple truth: undocumented immigrants are LESS likely to commit crimes, including violent crimes, than native-born citizens.

(1) "The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States," American Immigration Council, July 2015 http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/criminalization-immigration-united-states