Crime on the Border: Immigration and Homicide in Urban Communities

Studying El Paso, Miami, and San Diego over the years 1985-1995, Lee explores the complex relationship between ethnicity, immigration, and homicide. Popular opinion and sociological theory, particularly the social disorganization perspective, predict that immigration should increase levels of homicide where immigrants settle, but Lee's analysis (statistical, spatial, and temporal) generally finds that this is not the case. His results cast doubt on the taken-for-granted idea that immigration disrupts communities, weakens social control, and increases homicide levels. Rather, recent arrivals appear to play a positive role in these three cities, suggesting that conventional theories of crime be re-examined in light of the potentially revitalizing impact of immigration.