Friday, March 29, 2024

Latinos, Immigrants Comprise Half of Federal Felons

A new investigation by the Associated Press found that almost half of those sentenced in federal court for felonies are Latino. These numbers are bolstered by immigration cases, the AP reported, noting the discrepancy between this prison population and their percentage of the overall population, 16%. Furthermore:

Expedited court hearings along the border are a major force driving a seismic demographic shift in who is being sent to federal prison. Statistics released this week revealed that Hispanics now comprise nearly half of all people sentenced for federal felony crimes, a number swollen by immigration offenses. In comparison, Hispanics last year made up 16 percent of the total U.S. population.

Sentences for felony immigration crimes, which include illegal crossing as well as other crimes such as alien smuggling, accounted for about 87 percent of the increase in the number of Hispanics sent to prison over the past decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Sentencing Commission data.

What do you make of this analysis? Is it surprising? Does it bother you?

Reposted with permission from News Taco.

Comments

  1. Doug Simon says

    The current edition of Yes! magazine explores many aspects of America’s greatest accomplishment–the world’s largest prison system. Based on the work of Michelle Alexander, it is obvious that this system, especially prosecution of the “Drug War,” has a dark side: racism. While Dr. Alexander is concerned with the effect on black people, a look at the stats shows Latinos a far more negatively affected. While whites are by far the largest group of drug users (and dealers) the group most incarcerated in Federal prisons for drug “crimes” are Hispanics.
    http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/beyond-prisons/just-the-facts-its-a-locking-people-up-problem
    Now this system, at huge expense, has been expanded for the “crime” of entering illegally.
    Why do I feel sick when people start waving the flag and screaming about Freedom?

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  1. […] According to a new report from the Associated Press almost half of those sentenced in federal court for felonies are Latino. These numbers are bolstered by immigration cases, the AP reported, noting the discrepancy between this prison population and their percentage of the overall population, 16%. Read more at Latinovasions.com […]