A Rising Share: Hispanics and Federal Crime.

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A Rising Share: Hispanics and Federal Crime

by Mark Hugo Lopez, Associate Director, Pew Hispanic Center, and
Michael T. Light, Pennsylvania State University

Sharp growth in illegal immigration and increased enforcement of
immigration laws have altered the ethnic composition of offenders
sentenced in federal courts. In 2007, Latinos accounted for 40% of all
sentenced federal offenders-more than triple their share (13%) of the
total U.S. adult population. The share of all sentenced offenders who
were Latino in 2007 was up from 24% in 1991, according to an analysis
of data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) by the Pew
Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. Moreover, by
2007, immigration offenses represented nearly one-quarter (24%) of all
federal convictions, up from just 7% in 1991. Among those sentenced
for immigration offenses in 2007, 80% were Hispanic.

This heightened focus on immigration enforcement has also changed the
citizenship profile of federal offenders. In 2007, Latinos without
U.S. citizenship represented 29% of all federal offenders. Among all
Latino offenders, some 72% were not U.S. citizens, up from 61% in
1991. By contrast, a much smaller share of white offenders (8%) and
black offenders (6%) who were sentenced in federal courts in 2007 were
not U.S. citizens.

Among sentenced immigration offenders, most were convicted of
unlawfully entering or remaining in the U.S. Fully 75% of Latino
offenders sentenced for immigration crimes in 2007 were convicted of
entering the U.S. unlawfully or residing in the country without
authorization.

Hispanics who were convicted of any federal offense were more likely
than non-Hispanics to be sentenced to prison. But among all federal
offenders sentenced to prison, Hispanics were also more likely than
blacks or whites to receive a shorter prison term.

This report examines the ethnic, racial and citizenship status of
sentenced offenders in federal courts. It is important to note that
the federal courts represent a relatively small share of the overall
criminal justice system in the United States. According to the Bureau
of Justice Statistics, in 2004 only 6% of all offenders sentenced for
a felony were sentenced in a federal court; the remainder were
sentenced in a state court.

The data for this report are from the United States Sentencing
Commission's Monitoring of Federal Criminal Sentences data files for
fiscal years 1991 through 2007. These files contain information on all
federal court cases in which an offender was sentenced.