Citizenship, Legal Status, and Federal Sentencing Outcomes: Examining the Moderating Effects of Age, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity

Abstract

Research has yet to fully investigate whether the effects of citizenship and legal status are moderated by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. This is a significant oversight because negative stereotypes of young, male, black, and Hispanic offenders may intensify overall negative perceptions for noncitizen and undocumented immigrant offenders. Using data from the United States Sentencing Commission for fiscal years 2006–2008, we investigate whether the effects of citizenship and legal status on sentencing outcomes are moderated by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. The results indicate that the effects of citizenship and legal status on incarceration decision, but not sentence length decision, are moderated by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Further, young Hispanic male noncitizen and undocumented immigrant offenders are among the groups that have the greatest odds of being sentenced to prison. We discuss the implications of these findings and conclude with a discussion of future research.