ABSTRACT
Much of the existing discussion surrounding the immigration–crime link has been influenced by public perceptions of the criminality of illegal immigrants. Recent empirical studies, however, suggest that immigrant status may instead operate as a protective factor, shielding immigrants from (serious) criminal offending. Rarely investigated is the extent to which illegal immigration, construed as deportability status, relates to criminal justice sentencing decisions. Using data from a cohort of inmates incarcerated for a new offense during 2008 in a large southern state, this study examines the impact of a federal immigration detainer on sentence length and type, controlling for a variety of legal and extralegal factors. Using propensity score matching, results indicate that inmates with federal immigration detainers received significantly shorter sentences compared to non-deportable inmates. No significant difference was found in the likelihood of receiving a life or death sentence between inmates with and without immigration detainers.
