Immigration and Crime: Taking Stock

This brief examines various dimensions of the immigration-crime relationship in the United States. It evaluates a range of theories and arguments asserting an immigration-crime link, reviews studies examining its nature and predictors, and considers the impacts of immigration policy. Synthesizing a diverse body of scholarship across many disciplinary fields, this brief is a comprehensive resource for researchers engaged in questions of linkages between crime and immigration, citizenship, and race/ethnicity, and for those seeking to separate fact from fiction on an issue of great scientific and social importance.

Charis E. Kubrin is Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine. Among other topics, her research examines the immigration-crime nexus across neighborhoods and cities, as well as assesses the impact of immigration policy on crime and public safety. Beyond authoring numerous studies in peer-reviewed journals on these topics, she is co-editor of Punishing Immigrants: Policy, Politics, and Injustice (New York University Press). She is also co-editor of a special issue of Migration Letters focused on immigration and crime. Her work in this area has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Justice. Professor Kubrin has received several national awards for her scholarly contributions including the Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology (for outstanding contributions to the discipline of criminology) and the W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Western Society of Criminology (for significant contributions to racial/ethnic issues in criminology). In 2019, she was named a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology.

Graham C. Ousey is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at William & Mary. In addition to his original research on immigration and crime, Professor Ousey co-edited a special issue of Migration Letters focused on immigration and crime. Beyond his work on immigration and crime, Professor Ousey recently co-authored School Zone: A Problem Analysis of Student Offending and Victimization (Temple University Press). His prior work investigates varied questions about offending, victimization, and punishment across individuals, schools, and geographic communities. It appears in prominent journals including Criminology, Social Forces, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Social Problems, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, Violence and Victims, The Sociological Quarterly, Victims and Offenders, Annual Review of Criminology, Crime and Delinquency, and Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice. He has served on the editorial boards of Criminology, the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Social Problems, American Journal of Criminal Justice, and the Journal of School Violence.