Immigrants or Americans: Who is More Prone to Repeat Offenses

Previous studies have shown that immigrants have a lower rate of delinquency, arrest, and imprisonment than non-immigrants.

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A new study compared recidivism rates among people born abroad and those born in the United States, previously detained for criminal offenses, and released from prisons in Florida. It has been found that immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes than their non-immigrant peers.

A study by scientists from Florida State University is published in the quarterly edition of Justice Quarterly, an edition of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

“By concluding that immigrants recidivate at lower rates than their nonimmigrant peers, our study continues to dispel the myth of criminal immigrants,” explains Marin R. Wenger, co-author of the study and an assistant professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University. “Our findings suggest that policymakers and others should ignore heated rhetoric directed at foreign-born individuals and focus on groups for whom reducing recidivism will lead to safer communities.”

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Using data from the Florida Department of Corrections, the study compared the recidivism rates of 192 556 immigrants and non-immigrants previously detained for criminal offenses and released from Florida prisons between the 2004 and 2011 years. Of the total number, 188 677 were non-immigrants and 3 879 were immigrants. Researchers found that 32% of non-immigrants were re-convicted of a felony within three years of their release, compared to only 19% of immigrants. Relapse was defined as re-conviction for a felony with a new sentence imposed within three years after release.

To determine whether differences in the rates of recidivism between the two groups can be explained by other factors related to crime, the study took into account the gender, age, race and ethnicity of the participants, previous criminal record for a felony and a recent conviction for a criminal offense. In this case, it was taken into account in which court the participants and the year of their release were convicted.

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Researchers have used various methods to assess the relationship between immigration status and recidivism. Although they found that the time for recidivism among convicts was the same for both groups - 19,5 months for immigrants and 19,3 months for non-immigrants, they also found that the probability of conviction among non-immigrants was higher than immigrants, even after taking into account the above factors.

The authors acknowledge that since their study was limited to individuals who were serving sentences in Florida prisons and were released in a county in Florida, the results may not apply to other US states. And since their measure of recidivism was limited to re-conviction for a felony, the results cannot be generalized to other measures of recidivism, such as re-arrest.

“Given the current political and social environment and the need for some legislators to have tougher immigration policies, our study is important because it shows that former migrant prisoners pose a lower risk to society than former local prisoners,” says Javier Ramos, Applicant Doctorate at Florida State University, who co-authored the study.

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