The Sutherland Institute's study on illegal-immigrant crime, cited in the Deseret News editorial "A sad day for Utah," is very misleading. It claims that illegal immigrants make up less than 5 percent of Utah's jail and prison population and concludes that illegals do not have a disproportionate rate of crime.

Judges often take a "hands off" approach to illegals who are arrested. They are frequently turned over to immigration authorities and are subsequently taken back to the border or released back onto our streets, eluding incarceration. The actual number of crimes committed is revealed by the number of arrests, and these do indeed reflect a higher crime rate among illegal aliens. Our current, broken system simply allows them to avoid jail and prison time in Utah.

Laurie Lisonbee

Salem