A Nation In Distress

A Nation In Distress

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Immigration Offenses Make Latinos New Majority In Prisons

From Homeland Security NewsWire:


Immigration offenses make Latinos new majority in prisons



Published 8 September 2011



A new government report found that Latinos now account for more than half of all felony offenders sentenced this year as a result of immigration offenses; the report released on Tuesday by the U.S. Sentencing Commission revealed that Latinos comprised 50.3 percent of all people sentenced in the first nine months of this fiscal year



A new government report found that Latinos now account for more than half of all felony offenders sentenced this year as a result of immigration offenses.



The report released on Tuesday by the U.S. Sentencing Commission revealed that Latinos comprised 50.3 percent of all people sentenced in the first nine months of this fiscal year. In comparison 19.7 percent of felony convictions were for African-Americans and 26.4 percent for Caucasians.



“Statistics like this have to start drawing attention to this country’s immigration policies and what we’re doing, if this is one of the results,” said Fordham University Law School professor Deborah Denno, an expert on racial disparities in the criminal justice system. “The implications for Latinos are huge when you think of the number of families affected by having their breadwinners put away for what in some cases would be considered a non-violent offense.”



The latest statistics come as part of a decade long trend that show immigration crimes like illegal crossings and alien smuggling have largely been responsible for the increase in the number of Latinos sent to prison.



Latinos make up roughly 16 percent of the entire U.S. population, but they outnumber all other ethnic groups sentenced to serve time in prison for federal crimes.

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