Data and code for: Comparing crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born U.S. citizens in Texas

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Michael Light, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
Allmis.dta application/x-stata 12.7 KB 10/21/2020 06:16:AM
Codes_dhs.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 282.9 KB 09/18/2020 09:05:AM
NomisC.dta application/x-stata 13.2 KB 09/21/2020 09:57:AM
adf.rtf application/rtf 12.7 KB 10/21/2020 06:15:AM
adf_unlog.rtf application/rtf 10.1 KB 10/21/2020 06:15:AM
big_category.dta application/x-stata 14.2 KB 09/09/2020 10:26:AM
big_category_nat.dta application/x-stata 17.2 KB 07/09/2020 02:06:PM
big_category_pew.dta application/x-stata 13.8 KB 09/09/2020 10:04:AM
con_1.dta application/x-stata 19 KB 04/01/2020 06:56:AM
con_2.dta application/x-stata 22.9 KB 09/14/2020 08:05:AM
    Total of 73 records. Records per page
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Project Citation: 

Light, Michael . Data and code for: Comparing crime rates between undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born U.S. citizens in Texas. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-10-21. https://doi.org/10.3886/E124923V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary We make use of uniquely comprehensive arrest data from the Texas Department of Public Safety to compare the criminality of undocumented immigrants to legal immigrants and native-born U.S. citizens between 2012 and 2018. We find that undocumented immigrants have substantially lower crime rates than native-born citizens and legal immigrants across a range of felony offenses. Relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-borns are over two times more likely arrested for violent crimes, two and half times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over four times more likely to arrested for property crimes. In addition, the proportion of arrests involving undocumented immigrants in Texas was relatively stable or decreasing over this period. The differences between U.S.-born citizens and undocumented immigrants are robust to using alternative estimates of the broader undocumented population, alternate classifications of those counted as “undocumented” at arrest, and substituting misdemeanors or convictions as measures of crime. 
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2019-R2-CX-0058); National Science Foundation (1849297)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms illegal immigrants; citizens; criminality
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Texas
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/1/2012 – 12/31/2018
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data


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V1 [2020-10-21]

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