Illegal immigrants who have been deported at least once from the United States are far more likely than other immigrants to repeatedly commit crimes, according to a study by the nonprofit Rand Corp.
The data indicated that illegal immigrants, overall, were not a greater crime risk, according to the study, which looked at all inmates released from Los Angeles County Jail for a month in 2002.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 76 words Type of Material: Correction
Illegal immigrants: An article in Monday's California section about a Rand Corp. study on illegal immigrants said that among those who previously had been deported, reentered the United States and were arrested and released from Los Angeles County Jail, nearly 75% went on to commit another crime within a year. The story should have said that nearly 75% of those former inmates were arrested on suspicion of committing a crime within a year of their release.
But among those who previously had been deported, reentered the U.S. and were arrested and released from jail, nearly 75% went on to commit another crime within a year. And 28% were arrested three or more times during the one-year period.
The recidivism rate was much lower for illegal immigrants who had not been previously deported, with 32% of those inmates being rearrested within a year and 7% arrested three or more times during that year.
Since the data were collected in 2002, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has overhauled screening for illegal immigrants and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has poured resources into border security. But researchers said the analysis still could have public policy implications for L.A. County and other counties around the nation.
"If you are trying to target people who are repeatedly cycled through the criminal justice system, this looks like a good risk marker," said author Laura Hickman, a researcher at Portland State University. "It doesn't make sense to just sweep up all deportable aliens, but to focus resources on the group who are at the most risk for committing new crimes in the community."
The authors acknowledged that the study was limited because they couldn't determine the immigration status of many of the inmates and others may have falsely claimed U.S. birth. As a result, the study limited its analysis to 517 male illegal immigrants released from Los Angeles County jails between Aug. 4 and Sept. 2, 2002.
Law enforcement authorities said the report, published online this summer in the journal Crime & Delinquency, underscores their ongoing efforts to target illegal immigrants who have been ordered deported or removed from the United States. But L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca said the report also shows that the federal government needs to do more to stop criminals from sneaking back across the U.S.-Mexico border.
"Criminals who are illegal immigrants know no limits and no boundaries," he said. "The harder we make it for them to get across, the better."
