Study finds recidivism no higher among deportable immigrants

[cato2]

Study finds recidivism no higher among deportable immigrants

Deportable immigrants released from the Los Angeles County jail system were no more likely to be rearrested than similar nondeportable immigrants released during the same period, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today.

Researchers say the findings suggest that illegal and other immigrants subject to deportation who are released into the community from a local jail do not pose a greater threat to public safety than non-deportable immigrants released at the same time.

Researchers studied nearly 1,300 male immigrants released from jail over a 30-day period and followed them for a year to see whether there were differences in recidivism between the deportable and nondeportable immigrants.

Immigrants who were deportable -- deemed so because they entered the United States illegally, overstayed their visas or committed other violations -- were no more likely to be rearrested during the study period when compared to similar legal or naturalized immigrants.

“Our findings run counter to the notion that illegal immigrants are more likely than other immigrants to cycle in and out of the local criminal justice system,” said Laura Hickman, assistant professor with the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute at Portland State University and a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

The RAND study, published in the February edition of the journal Criminology and Public Policy, followed foreign-born men (517 deportable and 780 nondeportable) who were released back to the community between Aug. 4, 2002, and Sept. 2, 2002, from jails operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Hickman and co-author Marika Suttorp of RAND found that a higher percentage of deportable immigrants were rearrested at least once during the following year -- 43 percent compared to 35 percent. But when researchers compared deportable immigrants to similar nondeportable immigrants -- considering factors such as age, ethnicity, country of birth, and type of criminal arrest -- the differences disappeared.

Criminal justice research has shown that some groups are more likely than others to be rearrested. For example, younger people and those jailed on drug charges have higher rates of recidivism than other groups.

The results of this study are significant because the researchers were able to show that the difference in the simple percentages of rearrest between the groups (43 versus 35) was due to the influence of the other factors like age, ethnicity, and criminal history related to recidivism. When these factors were accounted for in the analysis, immigration status had no influence on rearrest.

The study excluded immigrants who were sent from Los Angeles jails to state prisons or were transferred to the custody of immigration officials.

Researchers say a limitation of the study is that it relies upon the self-reporting of birthplace by arrestees. Although the study period was relatively short, the sample size was large enough to produce statistically meaningful results and there is no reason to believe the mix of arrestees was unusual during the study period, according to researchers.

The project did not examine whether immigrants as a group were more likely than native-born U.S. citizens to be rearrested. However, the study did find a smaller percentage of all immigrants were rearrested after one year (38 percent) than the percent of rearrests identified in unrelated study of the Los Angeles County jail population a few years earlier. The earlier study looked at the rearrest patterns of 1,000 men (including both immigrants and native born) and found 50 percent were rearrested after one year of arrest.

Among the concerns motivating a recent crackdown on illegal immigration in some jurisdictions is a fear that immigrants -- particularly illegal immigrants -- increase crime in the community. The RAND project is one of a small number of studies that has tried to examine claims that deportable immigrants are a unique threat to public safety and the first to use statistical procedures to examine patterns of recidivism among immigrants released from a large jail population.

Contact: Warren Robak
media@rand.org
310-451-6913
RAND Corporation

Blackwell Synergy - Criminology Public Policy, Volume 7 Issue 1 Page 59-82, February 2008 (Article Abstract)

[leobold1]

Wait a minute...517 people were followed by RAND and were never reported to the INS.

And there ISN'T a problem with this?

Guess what, the amount of people in jail would be lower if these 517 people weren't in this country to begin with. You want to stop overcrowding jails, here's your first step.

I don't give a damn if they re-commit crimes. If they ended up in jail, they've broken at least 2 laws. The first was entering the country illegally. The second was getting arrested.

I stole a candy bar when I was 10. I did it again when I was 12. Both were Baby Ruths. I've re-committed a crime, even though I wasn't caught after the first time.

Same basic premise occurs here.

When you break a law, no matter if you get caught, and you commit another crime, you're now a recidivist.

We need a large addition to the personnel in the INS and Border Patrol. Both take 1-1/2 years minimum to get trained and up to speed. You start now, you won't have to worry about it in 4 years...again when this topic comes up again as part of the 2012 election.

[cato2]

This was posted for later reference concerning immigrant crime.

You would change the observation of your investigation and have no results if you were to arrest these people. The article did in fact not mention if they were arrested after this study.

Having lived on a border off and on since the early 70's here specifically in El Paso I can tell you that they will always find a way over here no matter what is done.

[Snowden]

No doubt it is impossible to stop the illegals from entering; however, there must be a way or ways to cut it down to a manageable number. A few will come through border towns like El Paso, of course -- but vigilance should make it a minimum. It's the huge number coming in now that is a threat to our economy and to the safety of the nation.

If all who came through were Mexicans looking for a better life, it may not be so bad. However, an open border is an invitation to anybody and everybody who wants to get in for whatever reason, terrorism included. And drugs, of course!

[cato2]

The focus of the research is on criminal activity of illegal immigrants, that is all.


Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera huge angry fight (seems that they also go all over the place as well).
YouTube - Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera huge angry fight

[leobold1]

Originally Posted by cato2

You would change the observation of your investigation and have no results if you were to arrest these people. The article did in fact not mention if they were arrested after this study.

That wasn't my point. My point was that they have committed a crime simply by crossing the border. They have entered this country illegally. Not undocumentedly, illegally.

3 kids were killed last week when a illegal wrecked into a school bus. These three kids would still be alive if this illegal wasn't in this country. How do I know this, simple.

This illegal came into this country. She owned the vehicle she was driving. She was travelling to the destination she was headed to. She hit the school bus. 3 kids died.

What started it? She came into this country ILLEGALLY. And 3 kids died for it. She was a Mexican National. You won't see Mexico apologize for their lack of ability to keep their own citizens in their own country, which caused this woman to break American laws and later kill three children.

This article says the 517 didn't re-offend the law within the time of the study any more than any other group. What they fail to mention is that they have ALREADY broken the law by entering this country illegally. The second law they broke was what landed them in jail. This is recidivism. Its not getting caught a second time. Its breaking the law again in general.

But, you're just putting this here for the next time someone else doesn't believe what it says, so no more debate is possible on it, right?

[cato2]

Once again you are going off topic from the study that is pointing out the crime committed by illegal immigrants. The study and what it states is that there is no crime wave committed by illegals.

The other points you mention could be covered in a new topic.