NCJ Number
195332
Date Published
2001
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report indicates that immigrant crime poses a greater problem than researchers are willing to admit.
Abstract
This report contends that despite early Federal commission research and recent FBI Uniform Crime Reports, both of which indicate that immigrants to the United States do not pose an unusual threat of crime, immigrant crime causes a far greater problem than many researchers will admit. Citing that much immigrant crime, often committed against other immigrants, goes unreported, this author presents numerous explanations for the underreporting of immigrant crime. Immigrant crime often goes unreported because immigrants view family crime as “a family matter;” are worried that contacting the police may lead to deportation; are often well-connected to crime rings abroad; may “commute” to Mexico; are not reported according to national origins; live in low-income, high-crime neighborhoods; and are often the parents of native-born criminals, i.e. the next generation. The author concludes that the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service is overworked and that foreign governments delay United States efforts to return criminals. In order to reduce immigrant crime, the annual levels of immigration must be reduced. References