Immigration and Crime. Insights into the Brazilian Community Living in Newark, New Jersey (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Law - Criminal process, Criminology, Law Enforcement, grade: 10.0, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey - Newark (School of Criminal Justice), course: Honor's Thesis, language: English, abstract: This thesis will explore the phenomenon of immigrants bringing crime into America on a micro level. The study points out that the undocumented Brazilian community living in the city of Newark, NJ are rarely involved with crimes. In fact, their strong familial ties, cultural background and eagerness to work have potentially helped to lessen the crime rates in their neighbourhoods.

The research question and objective of this study is to answer the question whether does the undocumented Brazilian community living in Newark make crime rates worse?

The present research is focused on the city of Newark because the city provides a snapshot that paints the bigger picture of what happened in America. While the population of immigrants was increasing, the crime rates were dropping. According to the U.S. Census of 2010-2014, the city is the most populous in the state of New Jersey. Historically, Newark is known for its violent crimes, but more recently for its cultural revival and significant drop on the crime rates.

The relationship between immigration and crime has been debated for over decades, but it was not until recently that this idea started driving public policies; restricting visas, banning international entry, and strengthening border enforcement and now separating children from their families crossing the border illegally. But it is irrefutable that immigration policies should be driven by data, empirical evidence, and foreign relations practices; not by a sociological myth that perceives every undocumented immigrant as a criminal individual.