“The Price of Being Mexican”: Sentencing Disparities Between Noncitizen Mexican and Non-Mexican Latinos in the Federal Courts

Abstract

With the increasing discourse about a crime-immigration nexus and Latinos, it is critical to ascertain how the criminal justice system responds to noncitizen Latino defendants. Using federal sentencing data to investigate the role of national origin and immigration status on noncitizen Latinos’ sentencing outcomes, several findings emerge. First, national origin conditions the sentences received for Mexicans and non-Mexican Latinos. Second, immigration status perpetuates disparities among defendants within each Latino subgroup. Third, examining the aggravating factors within each immigration status category shows that national origin poses greater sentencing penalties for Mexican defendants.