Recent Immigrants: Unexpected Implications for Crime and Incarceration

Among 18-40 year old men in the United States, immigrants are less likely to be institutionalized than the native-born, and much less likely to be institutionalized than native-born men with similar demographic characteristics. Furthermore, earlier immigrants are more likely to be institutionalized than more recent immigrants. Although all immigrant cohorts appear to assimilate toward the higher institutionalization rates of the native-born as time in the country increases, recent immigrants do not increase their institutionalization rates as quickly as one would predict from the experience of earlier immigrant cohorts. These results are the opposite of what one would predict from the literature on immigrant earnings, where earlier immigrants are typically found to have better permanent labor market characteristics.