Immigrant Revitalization?: How the Venezuelan bussing program impacted violent and property crime in Chicago neighborhoods

• In Event: 30662 - Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Policy Issues

Abstract

Since 2022, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has bussed or flown over 50,000 Venezuelan asylum seekers to Chicago, IL. Abbotts' unilateral bussing initiative lacked coordination with other cities and state leaders. For this reason, Venezuelan asylum seekers were and continue to be highly visible in some Chicago neighborhoods. Contrary to political rhetoric that immigrants cause disorder and increase crime, abundant research in the past 30 years has shown that foreign-born residents in the United States commit less violent crime than US-born residents. Nevertheless, unilateral initiatives that disrupt traditional migrant flows may disrupt the immigrant-crime relationship. In this study, I will use administrative crime statistics from the Chicago Data Portal, migrant shelter locations, demographic information of new arrivals, and transitional housing information to investigate the association between the Venezuelan bussing program and public safety in Chicago neighborhoods.

Author

• Marta Ascherio, Illinois State University