Advancing the Understanding of Immigration, Crime, and Crime Reporting at the Local Level with a Synthetic Population, United States, 2019

This study investigated the complex relationship between unauthorized immigration and crime at the local level. Through a mix of data fusion, synthetic population modeling, and detailed crime reporting from selected jurisdictions, the study sought to produce nuanced insights to challenge prevailing assumptions about immigration and crime, ultimately aiding in informed policy-making and resource allocation.
This study employed crime and crime reporting data from ten jurisdictions across the United States paired with synthetic data which estimated the unauthorized immigrant population. This research aimed to provide an in-depth analysis at the census tract level. Analyses focused on unauthorized immigration and its correlation with drug, property, and violent crime rates, while accounting for crime reporting in traditional and emerging immigrant destinations along with sites with low foreign populations.