Fellow Researches Immigration-Crime Link
Do immigrants commit more crime? Wilson Center Fellow H. Richard Friman is comparing how politics have shaped immigration and crime control policies over the last century in the United States, Germany, and Japan.
Wilson Center Fellow H. Richard Friman is researching the political dynamics of arguments linking immigration and crime, comparing history and current policies in the United States, Germany, and Japan.
"I'm fascinated by the way politics have been used to shape immigration and crime control policies," he said. A political science professor at Marquette University and a self-proclaimed closet historian, Friman is tracing similarities across advanced industrial countries in immigration control policies and ways these policies have enhanced and eroded internal security.
While these countries differ in ethnic composition, immigration history, and law enforcement, one similarity is the prominence of relative criminality arguments. "These arguments have been used to justify immigration policies of exclusion and deportation targeted at specific groups," Friman said.
Historically, restrictionist forces questioned whether foreign groups could be integrated successfully given differences in culture, religion, and criminality. In 1875, the United States passed its first federal legislation excluding foreign criminals and prostitutes, reflecting concerns over foreign government practices of encouraging convict emigration as well as anti-Chinese movements in the western states. More extensive policies of exclusion and deportation emerged as lawmakers responded to, and encouraged, fears of Chinese and later southern and eastern European immigration.
In Japan during the late 1800s and early 1900s, voluntary and forced Korean and Chinese migrants were perceived as prone to crime. "Japan has an entrenched sense of social order tied to ethnic homogeneity," Friman said. By the late 20th century, discussion in Japan had shifted to the relative criminality of Iranian and mainland Chinese migrants. Similar dynamics appear in Germany, from the time of Polish migration during the 19th century to modern-day arguments about foreigners voiced by the country's radical right. The legacy of the Third Reich, however, has led to a greater sensitivity.
Do immigrants commit crime? Friman said there are too many data problems to support the argument of relative criminality, which contends that certain immigrant groups are more prone to commit crime. In an absolute sense, however, some immigrants do commit criminal offenses. Thus, the more people let into a country, the greater the statistical likelihood that immigrant crime will occur.
Friman is also exploring how political dynamics have expanded definitions of criminality, and eroded the rights that accrue to arrested immigrants. In the United States, for example, "an aggravated felony charge would put an immigrant on the fast track for deportation and the category of such offenses has dramatically increased," Friman said.
During the past three decades, the immigration-crime link centered on drug-related and transnational crimes has more recently blurred with terror concerns. "Broad policy shifts and the pressures to address immigrant crime are swamping the capacity of enforcement agencies," Friman said.
These pressures also increase tension between immigration and law enforcement agencies and immigrant communities. The role of local law enforcement has emerged as a flashpoint in this context.
"U.S. security hinges on cooperation between immigrant communities and authorities," Friman said. "Relations are strained and we need to explore ways to improve dialogue."
