The Strange Career of Immigration in American Criminological Research

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12088
• Published date: 01 May 2014
• Author: Richard Rosenfeld
• Date: 01 May 2014

EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION

IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT,

POLICING, AND CRIME

The Strange Career of Immigration in

American Criminological Research

Richard Rosenfeld

University of Missouri—St. Louis

Not too long ago, the link between immigration and crime was something of an

article of faith among social scientists who presumed that immigrant concen-

tration impeded communication and cooperation among community residents.

In short, immigration increased social disorganization, as Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay

(1969 [1942]) reported in their landmark research on Chicago neighborhoods. The resur-

gence of research on immigration and crime in the United Statesduring the past two decades

has upended the traditional view. A growing researchliterature has found that high levels of

immigration are associated with lower levels of crime, especially criminal violence (see the

policy essays by Martinez and Iwama [2014, this issue] and by Kubrin [2014, this issue]).

Shaw and McKay’s pioneering research is open to differing interpretations (Huff-Corzine,

Corzine, Laurikkala, and Olson, 2010), but the current consensus among social scientists

is that, other things equal, immigration reduces violent crime.

Two notable distinctions characterize recent studies of the connection between immi-

gration and crime. The first is that between legal and illegal immigrants. The second is

that between the impact on crime of immigration per se and the impact of immigration

policy. If legal immigration does not increase crime, what about illegal immigration? It is

not unreasonable to suppose that persons who violate immigration laws may be more crime

prone than legal immigrants. And, if that is true, then does it not make sense to redouble

efforts to identify and remove “criminal aliens?” The answerto the second question depends

on the answer to the first. Why spend extra time and money requiring local authorities

to check the immigration status of persons they detain if illegal immigrants are no more

likely than legal immigrants to commit crime? The rationale for expedited local efforts to

identify undocumented immigrants and hand them over to federal immigration authorities

Direct correspondence to Richard Rosenfeld, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of

Missouri—St. Louis, 537 Lucas Hall, St. Louis, MO 63121 (e-mail: richard_rosenfeld@umsl.edu).

DOI:10.1111/1745-9133.12088 C2014 American Society of Criminology 281

Criminology & Public Policy rVolume 13 rIssue 2