Immigration and Crime
Statistics of Immigration in the United States
Immigration in the United States is responsible for the annual increase of approximately 2.25 million people to the countrys population. Aside from the numerous entries of both legal and illegal immigrants into the country, the annual births of immigrant woman, or about 750,000 births every year, are likewise contributing significantly to the aforesaid population increase (Elbel, 2002). In fact, the total foreign-born population in the country is now rapidly approaching to 35-million mark. In view of that, estimates suggest that there are about 70 million people in the United States today that are of foreign birth or parentage (Rumbaut, Gonzales, Komaie, Morgan, 2010). Because of the second- and third-generation immigrants, the racial and ethnic composition of the countrys population, particularly the communities where many of these immigrants settle is significantly transforming.
Who is Considered Illegal Immigrant
In the United States, illegal immigration basically involves the act of foreign nationals infringing the national laws and immigration policies of the United States by entering or remaining in the country without authorization from the United States government. The members of this population are either not allowed for permanent residence or are not in an authorized temporary status that allows longer work and residence terms. Foreign nationals are therefore considered illegal immigrants when they enter the country without valid documents, such as those foreign nationals surreptitiously crossing the Southwestern border, or when they enter with valid documents but overstayed despite the expiration of their visas, or otherwise infringed the terms of their admission. Accordingly, these illegal immigrants are subject to deportation.
Statistics of Illegal Immigrants in the United States
Recent surveys show that undocumented aliens in the United States comprise approximately 60 percent of the entire illegal alien population in the country (Illegal Aliens.US, 2009). These undocumented aliens typically belong to the group known as unlawful border crossers. The remaining 40 percent, on the other hand, are the illegal alien population of the United States that are documented through their expired visas. These so-called visa overstayers merely hold non-immigrant visas, such as worker visas and, as such, they are also not considered legal immigrants because they are staying beyond the duration of their visas (Illegal Aliens.US, 2009).
The exact number of illegal immigrants entering the United States as well as the precise rate at which other illegal immigrants cross the United States and Mexico border is undetermined. Determining the exact figure is very difficult because the illegal nature of their presence in the country prevents the government from exactly enumerating all of them. However, a few estimates have suggested that there are about 10,000 aliens that are illegally crossing the United States and Mexico border every day, or almost four million every year (The American Resistance, 2007). In 2005, population surveys reveal that around 11.5 to 12 million illegal immigrants are already living in the United States (Passel, 2010). Based on this data, estimates further suggest that approximately 66 percent of them had been in the country for ten years or less. Furthermore, roughly 49 percent of the said population was estimated to be adult males, 35 percent are adult females, while the remaining 16 percent are children (Passel, 2010).
Between 2007 and 2009, however, the estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the United States considerably declined by 8 percent, or almost one million (Hsu, 2010). Surveys show that the population of illegal immigrants in 2007 amounted to approximately 11.8 million, roughly 11.6 million in 2008, and down to approximately 10 million in 2009. This two-year period of decline, which has also coincided with the economic downturn of the United States, was the first time since the federal government authorized numerous foreign nationals to obtain legal status in the country following the 1986 amnesty (Hsu, 2010).
Effects of Immigration to the United States Crime Rate
The mass immigration in the Unites States during the past years has coincided with the period of mass imprisonment in the country. During these years, the incarceration rate in the United States has become the highest among any other countries in the world. These facts may have made many observers to conclude that the increasing crime rate in the country is associated with the continuous mass immigration. Nonetheless, many experts announced that it is difficult to draw strong conclusions on the link between immigration and crimes that are taking place in the United States. Experts claim that even though the population of undocumented immigrants between 1994 and 2005 has doubled, property crimes dropped 32 percent while violent crimes decreased by more than 34 percent (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2010).
Based on the official statistics of the government, there are 4,834 African-American prisoners for every 100,000 African-American males in the United States, while there are merely 1,778 Hispanic male prisoners for every 100,000, and 681 white males for every 100,000 (Rumbaut et al., 2010). Alarmingly, however, since 1985, the incarceration rate of second- and third generation immigrants, particularly the Hispanics, is rapidly growing. Many experts claims the reason for this phenomenon is that during the incorporation of the second- and third-generation immigrants in the United States, they are confronted during their young age by a multifaceted set of circumstances, including circumstances that strongly pull them to the streets, where gangs and violence make up a critical component of the realities of urban districts of the country. Unfortunately, by the time these young people reach adulthood, the impediments they earlier confronted would have stiffened already (Rumbaut et al., 2010).
Statistics of Immigrants Incarcerated
A recent study conducted by Harvard sociologists has revealed that immigrants do not increase the crime rate in the United States (Rumbaut et al., 2010). In fact, when compared to native-born Americans, immigrants are considerably committing fewer crimes. Moreover, data from the 2000 census of the Public Use Microsample further confirmed the said study by verifying that the incarceration rate of the native-born Americans was four times the rate of the foreign-born individuals (Rumbaut et al., 2010). In particular, the imprisonment rate of immigrants in general is 13 times less than the 11.6 percent imprisonment rate for native-born black individuals and half the 1.71 percent rate for non-Hispanic white Americans. Likewise, Asian immigrants in general have lower imprisonment rates than the Hispanic groups. Because of the aforesaid data, the conventional assumptions that young adult males from foreign immigrants are the groups that often commit crime in the United States and are the often sent in prison apparently seem to be unfounded (Rumbaut et al., 2010).
First Generation Crime Rate
In a study headed by Robert Sampson, a Harvard sociology professor, Sampson and his colleagues examined over 3,000 violent crimes from 1995 to 2003 in Chicago (as cited in Kingsbury, 2008). Through the census data, police records and survey of over 8,000 residents, they discovered the so-called Latino Paradox, whereby first-generation immigrants are less likely to commit violent behaviors than the public expects (Sampson et al. as cited in Kingsbury, 2008). The study reveals that first generation Mexican immigrants are 22 percent less expected to commit crimes than second-generation immigrants and 45 percent less expected than third-generation immigrants (Sampson et al. as cited in Kingsbury, 2008). The finding likewise declares that this pattern of immigrant generational crime rates is not confined to Latinos as it extends to other ethnic groups as well. This trend has been found to be comparable in Miami and New York, both of which have large immigrant communities (Kingsbury, 2008).
Research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, Steven Camorota, further confirms that the crime rate of first-generation immigrants is lower than both second- and third-generation immigrants. In fact, the problem of crime in the country is not aggravated by first-generation immigrants regardless of their entry status (as cited in Kingsbury, 2008). Based on the statistics of the United States Department of Justice, Camorota claims that children and grandchildren of immigrants are certainly more engaged in criminal activities than their immigrant parents seeing that in 2005, the composition of Hispanics in federal and state prison considerably had increased to more than 43 percent since 1990 (as cited in Kingsbury, 2008). At the aforesaid rate, one in every six Hispanic second- or third- generation immigrants in the United States is expected to be incarcerated during his or her lifetime.
Second Generation Crime Rate
For all second-generation immigrants, or children of immigrants born in the United States, studies found that the incarceration rates in all ethnic and racial groups starting year 2000 have significantly increased. The Immigration Policy Center claims that the more acculturated immigrants are, the more susceptible they are to violent behaviors (Barry, 2008). This claim is most observable among
Vietnamese whose incarceration rate increased from 0.46 percent to 5.6 percent
Mexicans whose incarceration rate increased more than eightfold, or 5.9 percent and
Cambodians and Laotians from 0.92 percent to 7.26 percent (Rumbaut et al., 2010).
Therefore, even though imprisonment rates are found to be extraordinarily low among first-generation immigrants, the imprisonment rate among the second-generation immigrant groups is seen to be rapidly growing. In fact, with the exception of Filipinos and Chinese immigrants, the rates of all second-generation immigrant groups exceed that of the non-Hispanic white Americans. Without a doubt, the earlier entry into American social circles and the earlier knowledge of the American cultural patterns of the second-generation immigrants have not led to their lesser propensity to crime, but quite the reverse.
Nevertheless, as of the moment, native-born Americans who have finished high school still have a higher rate of imprisonment than second-generation immigrants who are high school dropouts. For all second-generation immigrants, the risk of incarceration is highest for high school dropout men, which is 6.91 percent, compared to the 2 percent risk of high school graduates (Rumbaut et al., 2010). The most susceptible to crime among the second-generation immigrants who are high school dropouts are
Vietnamese who have the highest rate of more than 16 percent
Cambodians who have 12 percent
Puerto Ricans and Cubans who have 11 percent rate
Mexicans who have 10 percent rate and
Laotians who have nine percent rate (Rumbaut et al., 2010).
Third Generation Crime Rate
Immigrant parents and grandparents are generally hardworking, honest, and law-abiding. Unfortunately, however, the street culture of America is prompting greater violence to the succeeding generations of immigrants. As a result, the children and even more the grandchildren of first-generation immigrants who have had long and early exposure to the American culture are the ones becoming more inclined to engage in criminal activities. However, the increasing propensity of imprisonment among third-generation immigrants varied among the different ethnic or racial groups. The 2000 Census reveals that the incarceration rate of immigrants in the United States almost tripled from 0.6 for those who had been in the country at least five years to 1.7 percent for those with at least 16 years of residence (Rumbaut et al., 2010). Based on the latest statistics, third-generation immigrants are
Committing 22 percent more crimes than the second-generation immigrants and
Committing 45 percent more crimes than first-generation immigrants (Kingsbury, 2008).
Third-generation immigrants who grew up in poor communities have been found to be more exposed to economic and racial discrimination. For many of these third-generation immigrants, the said circumstances have been consuming their optimism and drive that their grandparents were full off. The discriminations have generated a mentality on them that survival in the United States relies on taking action to abuses, exhibiting an antagonistic attitude towards authorities, and taking the law into their own hands. This case was confirmed in one study published in the Journal of School Health where third-generation immigrant students are found to be more expected than first- and second-generation students to receive formal disciplinary sanctions at school and are more likely to be a victim of crime (Peguero, 2008).
Analysis on the Discrepancy in the Crime Rate
Based on the statistics stated in the preceding paragraphs, first-generation immigrants are indeed less susceptible to criminal activities than the second- and third- generations. In connection with these findings, the Immigration Policy Center study confirmed that immigrants staying in the United States for more than 15 years are more expected to become criminals than those who stayed in the country with lesser years (Barry, 2008). Taking off from the aforesaid findings, the Center likewise verifies that many of the most violent criminals nowadays are immigrants, and these are mostly the children and grandchildren of first-generation immigrants (Barry, 2008).
The most expected reasons why the crime rate of first-generation immigrants, whether legal or illegal immigrants, is much lower than native-born Americans as well as the second- and third-generation immigrants are their enthusiasm to work as well as their desire and motivation not to be deported. These characteristics allow the first-generation immigrants to perform better on a variety of social indicators, particularly the tendency to avoid violence. Legal or illegal immigrants basically come into the United States for the chance to work in a more prosperous and open free-market economy, and going against the law would certainly put that chance in danger. Hence, first-generation immigrants are more conscious of the greater sanctions of committing crime because of the reality of deportation.
In addition, the first-generation of immigrants that are legally coming into the United States are selected by the United States government on certain criteria, such as the desire to be successful in the country. The applicants for legal immigration are carefully screened by the government for criminal records, hence adding to the possibility that those granted entry into the country are indeed respectful of the countrys laws. Furthermore, unlike the second- and third-generation immigrants, first-generation immigrants usually come from a large number of cultures around the world where crime is not acknowledged as a manner for preserving honor or establishing reputation. On the other hand, the second- and third-generations are more inclined to criminal activities because they do not have the same attitude as those of their parents. Moreover, the exposure of the children and grandchildren of immigrant parents to American street culture as well as the bias and stigma they experience early in their lives have considerably contributed to their propensity to criminal activities.
Conclusion
It appears that the United States of America has become founded essentially by immigrants as first-, second-, and third-generation immigrants are continually adding up to the population of the country. The mass immigration in the Unites States during the past years has coincided with the period of mass imprisonment in the country. However, studies claim that the so-called Latino Paradox occurs whereby first-generation immigrants are less likely to commit violent behaviors than the public expects. All the same, although first generation immigrants are less expected to commit crimes, the second-generation immigrants and even more the third-generation immigrants are the ones more susceptible to violent behaviors. Accordingly, the longer the immigrants resided in the United States, the higher their imprisonment rates. The most expected reasons why the crime rate of first-generation immigrants, whether legal or illegal immigrants, is much lower than native-born Americans as well as the second- and third-generation immigrants are their enthusiasm to work as well as their desire and motivation not to be deported. On the other hand, the second- and third-generations are more inclined to criminal activities because they do not have the same attitude as those of their parents, and they have had long and early exposures to the American street culture. Accordingly, even though immigrants are less inclined to commit crime than native-born Americans, the continuous immigration into the United States is slowly making an impact on the crime and mass imprisonment problems in the country as the children and grandchildren of these immigrants are the ones becoming more inclined to commit crimes.
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