Immigrants, Crime, and the Criminalization of Immigration

• In Event: Emerging Issues on Immigration, Crime and Justice

Abstract

Immigration to the United States is not only associated with lower crime rates, but immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes than the native-born. That is the unmistakable conclusion of studies utilizing a wide range of data—including, but by no means limited to, the 1980, 1990, and 2000 decennial censuses, the 2010 American Community Survey, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions—not to mention a variety of smaller-scale studies in immigrant-heavy cities like Miami, Chicago, El Paso, San Antonio, and San Diego. And yet, paradoxically, U.S. immigration laws are often drafted on the basis of stereotypes about immigrant criminality rather than facts. These laws are criminalizing an ever broadening swath of the immigrant population by applying a double standard when it comes to the consequences for criminal behavior. Immigrants who experience even the slightest brush with the criminal justice system, such as being convicted of a misdemeanor, can find themselves subject to detention for an undetermined period, after which they are expelled from the country and barred from returning. This approach to immigration policy is cruel, pointless, and shortsighted.

Author

• Walter A. Ewing, American Immigration Council