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While many Americans took time on Sept. 11 to remember those who were lost in the terrorist attacks seven years ago, a few gathered in Washington, D.C., for the latest event in their favorite sport: illegal-immigrant bashing.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform and its allies on Capitol Hill gathered for a forum titled "The Toll of Illegal Alien Criminals on American Families," which perpetuated the myth of immigrant criminality. Meanwhile, the federation itself has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a group that tracks hate crimes nationwide.

In addition to being hateful, the D.C. event had no purpose we could see other than to further demonize illegal immigrants.

Immigration legislation is practically non-existent in Congress at the moment. With elections less than two months away, politicians are staying as far away from the issue as they can. But whether immigration bills are being considered or not, it seems taking cheap shots at illegal immigrants is always in season.

Are some illegal immigrants criminals? Of course. Examine any segment of the human population and you'll find good guys and bad guys.

However, we've editorialized before that myriad studies have shown that illegal immigrants are less likely — not more — to engage in crimes.

It's shameful that some politicians, right-wing groups and radio and television talk-show hosts continue to spread the lie that illegal immigrants are a threat to Americans.

"Numerous studies by independent researchers and government commissions over the past 100 years have consistently found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native-born. This holds true for both legal immigrants and the undocumented, regardless of their country of origin or level of education," according to a press release denouncing the forum sent out by the Immigration Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.

Some examples:

● Bureau of Justice Statistics data indicate that although the illegal-immigrant population doubled to about 12 million from 1994 to 2004, the violent-crime rate in the United States declined 35.1 percent in that period and the property-crime rate fell 25 percent.

The decline in crime rates was not only national but also occurred in border cities and those with large immigrant populations, such as San Diego, El Paso, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami.

● The conservative Americas Majority Foundation reported this year that crime rates are lowest in states with the highest immigration growth rates. From 1999 to 2006, the crime rate declined 13.6 percent in the 19 highest-immigration states, compared with a 7.1 percent decline in the other 32 states.

● A June report by the Public Policy Institute of California found that foreign-born adults have lower incarceration rates, 297 per 100,000, than their native-born counterparts, 813 per 100,000.

These reports, and others, make sense because, as the Immigration Policy Center stated: "Immigrants come to the United States to pursue economic and educational opportunities not available in their home countries and to build better lives for themselves and their families. As a result, they have little to gain and much to lose by breaking the law."

As we said, there are illegal immigrants who are criminals. Some would argue they are all criminals since they all crossed the border illegally. We see evidence of this criminality in news reports of drug trafficking and people smuggling.

However, most illegal immigrants came to this country to work. Most have become part of our communities. They work, go to school, pay taxes, attend church, go shopping and watch ballgames.

Certain groups, politicians and pundits should stop sowing fear regarding illegal immigrants. The simple fact is that most are not criminals.