Are Immigrants Criminals? A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence

• In Event: The Intersection of Immigrant Status and Criminal Offending

Abstract

An anti-immigration rhetoric has permeated public debates as part of the upcoming Presidential elections in the United States. This rhetoric suggests that immigrants are disproportionally crime prone, a statement that feeds into the fears felt in many communities. Yet, studies have revealed quite the opposite: foreign born individuals have less of an involvement in criminal activity than their native born counterparts, not more as commonly assumed (see for example, Morenoff & Astor, 2006; Sampson, 2008). Although the number of studies on the link between immigration and crime continues to expand, few efforts have been made to summarize this dense literature. This study presents the results of a meta-analysis on the effects of immigrant status on criminal involvement. A meta-analysis is a rigorous methodology that allows for a quantitative synthesis of the existing literature. In a meta-analysis, each empirical study is treated as the unit of analysis and researchers can calculate the estimated effect size (i.e., predictive ability) of selected variables on selected outcomes (Cohen, 1977; Pratt, 2005). Preliminary results of the meta-analysis will be presented and the implications of our findings will be discussed.

Authors

• Arelys Madero-Hernandez, Northern Kentucky University

• Carlos Rojas-Gaona, University of Cincinnati

• Ben H. Feldmeyer, University of Cincinnati

• Anthony Peguero, Virginia Tech