Border Apprehensions and Federal Sentencing of Hispanic Citizens in the United States

Simone Bertoli (1, 2, 3, 4) , Morgane Laouénan (5, 6, 7) , Jérôme Valette (8, 9, 10)

1 CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International
2 IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
3 IUF - Institut universitaire de France
4 IZA - Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit - Institute of Labor Economics
5 CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne
6 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
7 LIEPP - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire d'évaluation des politiques publiques (Sciences Po)
8 CEPII - Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales
9 UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
10 IC Migrations - Institut Convergences Migrations [Aubervilliers]

We provide evidence that Hispanic citizens receive significantly longer sentences than non-Hispanic citizens in the Federal Criminal Justice System in the United States when a higher number of illegal aliens are apprehended along the southwest border. Apprehensions can increase the salience of Hispanic ethnic identity, which is associated with persistent negative stereotypes, and can also deteriorate attitudes toward Hispanics. We rule out concerns that apprehensions might be conveying legally relevant information to judges. Thus, we provide direct evidence for timevarying discrimination toward Hispanic defendants. Our estimated effect is only at play for defendants without a heavy previous criminal record.

Keywords: Immigration; Ethnic identity; Discrimination; Attitudes; Salience; Sentences

Domains: Economics and Finance

Simone Bertoli, Morgane Laouénan, Jérôme Valette. Border Apprehensions and Federal Sentencing of Hispanic Citizens in the United States. 2023. ⟨hal-03960312⟩