Latino employment and non-latino homicide in rural areas: The implications of U.S. immigration policy
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2010
Abstract
From 1990 to 2000, rural counties experienced a major influx of low-skill Latinos. This was due in part to the increased enforcement of the U.S.-Mexican border, which encouraged Latino migrants already in the United States to stay for fear that they cannot return. We examine whether the increasing dominance of Latinos in rural low-skill labor markets raised rural homicide among non-Latino whites and blacks. Using 1990 and 2000 census and crime data for counties, we find that where low-skill labor markets shifted toward Latino labor, violence increases among non-Latino whites, but not among blacks. This is in contrast to prior research emphasizing how low-skill jobs loss is detrimental mainly to blacks. This major structural change in the ethnic structure of low-skill employment has negative consequences for rural white communities, and current theorizing on the loss of low-skill jobs must account for these effects. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Deviant Behavior
First Page
411
Last Page
439
Recommended Citation
Shihadeh, E., & Barranco, R. (2010). Latino employment and non-latino homicide in rural areas: The implications of U.S. immigration policy. Deviant Behavior, 31 (5), 411-439. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620903231274