Immigration and violent crime: Evidence from the Colombia-Venezuela Border

Abstract

This paper investigates the link between violent crime and immigration using data from Colombian municipalities during the recent episode of immigration from Venezuela. The key finding is that, following the closing and then re-opening of the border in 2016, which precipitated a massive immigration wave, homicides in Colombia increased in areas close to key border crossings. Using information on the nationality of the victim, we find that this increase was driven by homicides involving Venezuelan victims, who were disproportionately victimized relative to their size of the population. Thus, in contrast to xenophobic fears that migrants might victimize natives, it was migrants, rather than natives, who faced risks associated with immigration. We then investigate possible mechanisms underlying this link between immigration and violent crime.