The Imperative of Place: Homicide and the New Latino Migration

Abstract

Prior research finds that Latino immigration reduced violence. We argue that this is because they settled in traditional immigrant areas. But recent migrants settled in new destinations where the immigration–violence link is more complex. Contrary to previous findings, we observe that (1) Latino homicide victimization is higher in new destinations; (2) Latino immigration increases victimization rates, but only in new destinations and only for Latinos entering after 1990, when they fanned out to new destinations; and (3) Latino deprivation increases victimization only in new destinations because, we speculate, these new areas lack the protective social control umbrella of traditional destinations. Thus, the “Latino paradox” may be less useful than time‐honored sociological frameworks for understanding the link between Latino immigration and violence.

Walking ATMs and the immigration spillover effect: The link between Latino immigration and robbery victimization

“…Second, the finding that Latino victimization is highest in areas with high levels of Latino immigration is consistent with previous research (e.g. Barranco, 2013;Shihadeh and Barranco, 2013). Our paper extends this work by examining a different type of violence (robbery instead of homicide) and by testing whether this violence is interracial in nature.…”

“…The use of county-level crime data has been widely used in recent criminological studies (e.g. Osgood and Chambers, 2000;Lee et al, 2003;Lee and Ousey, 2005;Barranco, 2013;Shihadeh and Barranco, 2013).…”

Enclaves of opportunity or “ghettos of last resort?” Assessing the effects of immigrant segregation on violent crime rates

“…An advantage of the CA-NY data is that they provide measures of offending (rather than victimization) and thus, offer a different window into assessing the connections between immigration, segregation, and crime than seen in prior research (e.g., Barranco, 2013;Shihadeh and Barranco, 2013). However, arrest data are also subject to some well-known critiques, namely that they (1) underestimate true levels of offending and (2) reflect a combination of true patterns in offending as well as the enforcement efforts, attention, and policies of state and local police.…”

The third alternative: Latino immigration from the United States to Canada, 1980 to 2009

“…Unprotected by the umbrella of social control in traditional immigrant communities, Latinos in new destinations face a number of serious problems. For instance, compared to Latinos in old destinations, those in new destinations are twice as likely to be murdered (Shihadeh and Barranco 2013). In some new destinations, the Latino murder victimization rate is as high as that of Blacks.…”

“…This supports the statistical evidence that Latinos are not only more likely to be robbed than non-Latinos, they are also more likely to experience "secondary violence" as a result of the robbery, like getting beaten and stabbed (Thornton 2010). Their lack of fluency in English only makes matters worse and exposes them to even more violence (Shihadeh and Barranco 2013). For instance, should they fail to understand the robbers' (English) commands, or hesitate for a split second because of the language barrier, the migrant workers are at risk of being shot.…”