An Assessment of the Impact of 'Sanctuary' Policies and Anti-Immigrant Legislation on Crime Rates in Traditional, New, and Re-Emerging Immigrant Destinations

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

Abstract

Despite political rhetoric and sensationalized media accounts, there appears to be a consensus in the sociological literature that the immigration-crime link is largely a fallacy. A robust body of literature has demonstrated that the presence or growth of the foreign-born population is in fact not associated with increased violent crime rates. However, less is known about the impact that “sanctuary” policies and anti-immigrant legislation at the municipal and state level have on crime. Are sanctuary policies associated with higher levels of crime? In a similar vein, does anti-immigrant legislation effectively make communities safer? Or do such policies lead to distrust of local law enforcement officials among immigrant communities, which could ultimately undermine community policing efforts? Drawing on data from the American Community Survey and the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, this article uses fixed effects negative binomial regression models to examine the association between “sanctuary” policies and anti-immigrant legislation on violent crime counts across “traditional,” new” and “re-emerging” immigrant destinations, with special attention paid to new destinations in rural communities.

Authors

• Daniel Martinez, George Washington University

• Ricardo Martinez-Schuldt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill