NCJ Number
181004
Journal
International Criminal Justice Review Volume: 9 Dated: 1999 Pages: 1-17
Date Published
1999
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article examines the relationship between immigration policy and crime in seven countries.
Abstract
The countries studied are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States. Immigration policy and the criminal involvement of immigrants are compared to determine whether there is a link between the two, the nature of any patterns, and why it exists. The countries studied have significantly different immigration policies. Some are "immigrant nations," where the volume of immigrants is high, barriers to entry are low, and naturalization is encouraged. Others are "nonimmigrant nations," in which the volume of immigration is relatively low, the barriers to entry are substantial, and permanent settlement and attainment of citizenship are not encouraged. The most consistently available cross-national data on criminal involvement of aliens come from incarcerations; there is generally more information available on persons at the time of incarceration than at earlier stages in system processing, such as arrest. The crime data referred to in this study are thus based on incarceration rates. The study found that there is a general (but not perfect) pattern in which "immigrant" nations have lower ratios of immigrant to native crime than nations with less liberal policies. It is not clear whether this relationship is due more to the general ability of these nations to integrate foreign populations or to immigration policies per se. 4 tables, 34 references, and appended outline of sources for incarceration rates