General Discussion

THE INCARCERATION GAP BETWEEN IMMIGRANTS AND THE US-BORN, 1870–2020
We provide the first nationally representative long-run series (1870–2020) of incarceration rates
for immigrants and the US-born. As a group, immigrants have had lower incarceration rates than
the US-born for 150 years. Moreover, relative to the US-born, immigrants’ incarceration rates
have declined since 1960: immigrants today are 60% less likely to be incarcerated (30% relative
to US-born whites). This relative decline occurred among immigrants from all regions and cannot
be explained by changes in immigrants’ observable characteristics or immigration policy. Instead,
the decline is part of a broader divergence of outcomes between less-educated immigrants and
their US-born counterparts.