El Amigo y El Esé: Stereotyping of the “Criminal Immigrant”

• Published date: 01 October 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231180631
• Author: Krystlelynn Caraballo,Volkan Topalli
• Date: 01 October 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2023, Vol. 50, No. 10, October 2023, 1482 –1505.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231180631

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2023 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1482

EL AMIGO Y EL ESÉ

Stereotyping of the “Criminal Immigrant”

KRYSTLELYNN CARABALLO

Arizona State University

VOLKAN TOPALLI

Georgia State University

The criminal immigrant narrative (CIN) is the embodiment of stereotypes suggesting that foreign nationals are engaged in

crime. Research has documented how this narrative has influenced discourse, policies, and enforcement, but none to date

has addressed how the CIN affects the stereotyping and interactions of crime-involved individuals with those deemed

“immigrants.” This study draws from in-depth, semi-structured interviews of 25 individuals actively engaged in street crime

from Atlanta, Georgia, to understand their beliefs regarding immigration, stereotyping of “immigrants,” and their interac-

tions with perceived immigrants, including targeting. Our findings suggest that interviewees’ stereotypes of immigrants and

their ascribed attributes are based on perceived nationality, nativity, documentation status, work ethic, criminality, and prior

interactions with foreign nationals. Participants demonstrated an understanding of immigration policies from media and

political rhetoric. This understanding influenced the stereotyping of immigrants as “illegal” or “doing illegal things,” shap-

ing participants’ views of foreign nationals as vulnerable or dangerous.

Keywords: criminal immigrant narrative; stereotyping; undocumented immigrants; Latino; qualitative methods

“The US has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems . . . When Mexico

sends its people, they’re not sending their best . . . They’re sending people that have lots of

problems, and they’re bringing those problems . . . They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing

crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Former President Donald

Trump, June 16, 2015.

AUTHORS’ NOTE: This research was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation (grant

#1252125) and the American Society of Criminology Ruth D. Peterson Fellowship for Racial and Ethnic

Diversity. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dra. Krystlelynn Caraballo, PhD,

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona State University, 411 N. Central Ave. Ste. 611B, Phoenix,

AZ 85004; e-mail: krystlelynn.caraballo@asu.edu.

1180631CJBxxx10.1177/00938548231180631criminal justice and behaviorcaraballo, topalli / amigos y esés: stereotyping the criminal immigrant

research-article2023

Caraballo, Topalli / AMIGOS Y ESÉS: STEREOTYPING THE CRIMINAL IMMIGRANT 1483

Foreign nationals (i.e., migrants), particularly those who lack valid documentation, have

long been viewed as threats to the native-born population’s economic, safety, and political

dominance (Berg, 2009; Wang, 2012), with fears often concentrated on foreigners of Latinx

ethnicity/Mexican nationality (Chavez, 2013; Eitle & Taylor, 2008). In particular, percep-

tions of migrants as public safety threats have dominated the political discourse for decades,

providing the foundation for the “criminal immigrant narrative” (CIN). This discourse has

contributed to anti-immigrant prejudice (Quillian, 1995), support for punitive social control

and enforcement policies (Pickett, 2016), and—consequently—targeting for crime

(Barranco & Shihadeh, 2015; Lockwood & Cuevas, 2020). However, little research exists

on the personal beliefs and biases of individuals actively engaged in street crime toward

migrants and the interactions between these stigmatized groups. While crime-involved indi-

viduals are still community members exposed to the mainstream discourse, they are unlikely

to be well represented in polls and surveys and yet are assumed to be acutely aware of the

political environment and actively influenced by mainstream discourse. To address this gap,

we interviewed 25 individuals who—at the time of data collection—were actively engaged

in acquisitive street crimes to explore their beliefs and understanding about immigration, as

well as their interactions with perceived migrants.

Numerous studies have been conducted on the public’s views on immigration and

crime (Berg, 2009; Buckler, 2008; Burns & Gimpel, 2000), African Americans’ views of

immigration (Diamond, 1998; Nteta, 2013), and the impact of “crimmigration” policies

on the vulnerability of migrants (Velazquez & Kempf-Leonard, 2010). However, no stud-

ies to date address the impact of mainstream political discourse on the views and subse-

quent interactions with “immigrants” by individuals who actively offend. This represents

a critical gap in the literature because prior research has demonstrated that the discourse

intertwines Latinx identity with immigration status, which may influence the attractive-

ness of perceived migrants as targets for crime. In particular, the targeting of foreign

nationals for street crime has garnered increasing attention, with African American men

accused of perpetrating a significant proportion of these crimes (Cepeda et al., 2012; Negi

et al., 2013). This contradicts the well-established intraracial targeting patterns (see

Caraballo & Topalli, 2023 for a discussion on this dynamic). Therefore, it is critical to

understand the extent to which individuals who engage in street crime absorb the main-

stream biases and prejudices, adopt beliefs related to the CIN, and use this information to

shape their interactions with migrants. To date, most studies on the interactions between

migrants and those involved in street crime use reported crimes (Barranco & Shihadeh,

2015; Cancino et al., 2009) or victim accounts (Fussell, 2011; Negi et al., 2013, 2019),

thus speculating on the perceptions and motives of those involved in street crime (Barranco

& Shihadeh, 2015).

We first provide an overview of the relevant intersecting bodies of literature, including

the CIN, stereotyping, the “immigration-crime nexus,” and foreign nationals’ known inter-

actions with crime-involved individuals. A detailed methodology section then articulates

the study setting and context, recruitment and sampling characteristics, data collection pro-

cedures, and the transcription and data analyses. Next, the results are presented by themes.

We conclude with a discussion on the implications of the findings on future research.