Terrorism and Immigration

Terrorism is a hazard to human life and material prosperity that should be addressed in a sensible manner whereby the benefits of government actions taken to contain it outweigh the costs. Whether policies are sensible depends on the risks that terrorism poses, the harms that terrorism inflicts, and the costs of anti- terrorism policies. This risk analysis of foreign- born terrorism is a crucial step in evaluating anti- terrorism policies related to immigration. A total of 230 foreign- born terrorists were responsible for 3,046 murders on US soil from 1975 through the end of 2023. The chance of a person perishing in a terrorist attack committed by a foreigner on US soil over that 49- year period was about 1 in 4.5 million per year. The hazard posed by foreigners who entered in different ways varies considerably. For instance, the annual chance of being murdered in an attack committed by an illegal immigrant was zero.