Abstract
From the early twentieth century onward, research has found little to no support for a positive association between immigration and crime (Hayford 1911). In fact, much available research finds the opposite; more immigration leads to less crime. While the scholarly community has largely debunked as myth the idea that more immigrants lead to more crime, there remain many questions about the nature of the relationship between immigration and crime. Three articles in this special issue take up these more nuanced questions. The research presented in this special issue contributes new findings and perspectives on immigration, crime, law, and justice. The analyses range from studies of the relationship between undocumented immigration and crime among youthful offenders to studies of newspaper coverage of immigration and crime in Europe. Moreover, the questions addressed are informed by a productive mixture of quantitative and qualitative empirical evidence from the present and the past. As we look to the future, we encourage scholars to build from the work presented herein and to seek diverse data to build a better understanding of the complex ways that immigration, crime, law, and justice are interconnected.
Highlights
The current political zeitgeist and public sentiment reveal increasing hostility toward immigrants both in the United States and beyond (Davidov and Semyonov, 2017; Sohoni, 2017)
Xie and Baumer use state-level data from a more recent period (2005-2014) to understand types of, and trends in, immigration-related legislative activity in the United States. These articles reveal the variety of immigration policies that exist, the kinds of policy changes that have occurred over time, and they highlight key social factors that have contributed to immigration policy at both the national and state levels
The research presented in this special issue contributes new findings and perspectives on immigration, crime, law, and justice
Summary
The current political zeitgeist and public sentiment reveal increasing hostility toward immigrants both in the United States and beyond (Davidov and Semyonov, 2017; Sohoni, 2017). In the United States, the election of President Donald Trump gave antipathy toward immigrants a new voice with policychanging implications. To help bring public perception more in-line with what is empirically known about the immigration-crime relationship, the co-editors of this special issue— who have published extensively on this topic—recently co-authored an editorial, “Immigration and Crime: What Does the Research Say,” in The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/immigration-and-crime-what-doesthe-research-say-72176). It received widespread attention and served as a launching point for development of this special issue on “Immigration and Crime.”. It received widespread attention and served as a launching point for development of this special issue on “Immigration and Crime.” Yet the work contained in this special issue goes beyond a simple examination of the immigration-crime link, engaging various important issues on immigration, immigrants, perceptions of threat, stigma, and the law, among others
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