Policing immigrant communities: Latino perceptions of police involvement in immigration enforcement

Using data from a survey of 2004 Latinos in four urban counties in the USA, this paper considers a question that has not been systematically investigated: how has increasing police involvement in immigration enforcement impacted the perceptions of the police that are held by immigrant and non-immigrant Latinos? Survey results indicate that many Latinos report fear of police, contributing to their social isolation and exacerbating their mistrust of law enforcement authorities. A substantial portion of Latino respondents report that they would be less likely to voluntarily contact the police if they are the victim of a crime, or to provide information about a crime, because they fear that police would use this contact as an opportunity to investigate their immigration status or that of their friends and family members. We use regression analysis to further analyse the determinants of these responses. Our findings suggest that negative encounters with police involving questions of immigration status and perceived unfair treatment, as well as vulnerabilities due to immigration and documentation status, contribute to social isolation and hesitancy to report crimes to police. These findings have implications for cooperation between police and Latino communities, particularly since local authorities have been enrolled in immigration enforcement.