The Interactive Effects of National Origin and Immigration Status on Latino Drug Traffickers in U.S. Federal Courts

• Date: 01 July 2017
• Published date: 01 July 2017
• DOI: 10.1177/2153368716647425
• Author: Melissa A. Logue
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The Interactive Effects of

National Origin and

Immigration Status on

Latino Drug Traffickers in

U.S. Federal Courts

Melissa A. Logue

1

Abstract

The present study was an intragroup examination of noncitizen Latino drug traffickers

convicted in the federal courts from 2006 to 2014. Drawing upon focal concerns

theory and Sayad’s state-centered perspective on the role of governments in framing

the crime–immigration debate, this study assessed whether offenders’ national origin

conditions the effects of immigration status on the odds of receiving a downward

departure (lenient sentencing) and the magnitude of the sentence discount imposed.

Particular attention was paid to whether any effects worked to the detriment of

Mexicans relative to non-Mexicans. The findings revealed that the effect of immigra-

tion status was contingent on offenders’ national origin for the departure decision, but

not the sentence discount. While being undocumented served to decrease the odds of

a downward departure regardless of national origin, the effects were greater for

Mexicans than for non-Mexicans. These findings indicate that contrary to the goals of

the U.S. sentencing guidelines to reduce unwarranted disparities surrounding national

origin, the current federal sentencing structure allows them to thrive.

Keywords

Latinos, departures, immigration, national origin, sentencing

The 21st century represents a time of demographic shifts in the U.S. population. With

this transition, Latinos rather than Blacks represent the country’s largest racial/ethnic

1

Department of Sociology, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Melissa A. Logue, Department of Sociology, Saint Joseph’s University, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia,

PA 19131, USA.

Email: mlogue@sju.edu

Race and Justice

2017, Vol. 7(3) 276-296

ªThe Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/2153368716647425

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minority group (Fry, 2008). A significant portion of this change comes from increased

immigration from Latin America (Fry, 2008, p. 1; Larsen, 2004). Many native-born

Americans react to these immigration patterns and their effects with demands for

tougher enforcement of immigration laws and the passage of new laws to reduce the

number of undocumented immigrants entering the country. They demand enhanced

security along the U.S.-Mexico border and a reduction in the number of legal

immigrants admitted to the United States annually (Citrin & Sides, 2008; Espenshade,

1995; Freeman & Birrell, 2001; Huntington, 2004; Jaret, 1999; Light, Massoglia, &

King, 2014; Logue, 2009). Additionally, many native-born Americans call for harsher

punishment for undocumented immigrants when they commit crimes, especially those

of Latino origin (Morin, 2008). Nonetheless, most sentencing research on Latinos

focuses on their outcomes relative to Whites and Blacks, with no consideration of

possible intraethnic variation fostered by the hostility targeted toward Mexicans

relative to other groups of Latinos (Light et al., 2014; Wolfe, Pyrooz, & Spohn, 2011).

In light of the current climate, the present study seeks to address this gap by

exploring whether or not noncitizen Latinos immigration status and national origin

affect judges’ imposition of downward departures and the magnitude of the sentence

discount they impose for those granted these departures. Downward departures are a

mechanism that permits judges to sentence offenders below a range prescribed by the

federal sentencing guidelines. The sentencing guidelines permit judges to utilize

downward departures in cases where mitigating factors (e.g., family ties and

responsibilities; community ties) exist that the federal sentencing guidelines fail to

consider adequately, thus they provide a means to grant leniency (U.S. Sentencing

Commission, 2014a). This study asks: (1) Is the effect of immigration status on the

odds of receiving a downward departure contingent on offenders’ national origin? and

(2) Is the effect of immigration status on the magnitude of the sentence discount

contingent on offenders’ national origin? Provision 5H1.10 of the federal sentencing

guidelines precludes the use of national origin in sentencing decisions, so one would

expect the answers to both questions to be no (U.S. Sentencing Commission, 2014a).

However, it is important to examine whether any support exists for this expectation

and the current study is timely. First, the number of Latino immigrants and Mexican

immigrants in particular continues to grow. Second, there is increasing anti-

immigration rhetoric and attitudes permeating the political arena and among the

public, with much of the focus centering on Mexicans, particularly undocumented

ones, even as they are not the only Latinos immigrating to the United States (Hun-

tington, 2004; Jaret, 1999; Morin, 2008). A major reason for this sentiment is the

ongoing drug policy in Mexico and in the United States that seeks to eradicate drug

smuggling into the United States and the corresponding violence associated with it

(Zarriello & Gray, 2014). For instance, efforts targeting Mexican drug smugglers go

back to the Nixon administration with the initiation of Operation Intercept in 1969, as

a means of stopping the flow of Mexican marijuana into the United States. However,

the program failed to achieve its goals (Zarriello & Gray, 2014).

This failure led to a shift in strategy in the United States and Mexico during the

1970s that emphasized an eradication of marijuana fields in Mexico via training,

Logue 277