Immigrants’ Perceptions of the Police: Does Undocumented Status Matter?

Though widely assessed, research on perceptions of procedural justice and police legitimacy has predominantly focused on assessing the general population and has neglected racial and ethnic minorities, as well as other historically marginalized people. Among the neglected groups are undocumented immigrants from Latin America. The present study examines a community sample of undocumented and documented immigrants ( n = 208) residing in a large county in the southwest of the United States. We include immigrants of varying status for comparison purposes as we seek to examine whether undocumented status matters. Results indicated that undocumented immigrants were not significantly different from persons with legal status in their perceptions of procedural justice, legitimacy (measured as an obligation to obey and trust in the police), and willingness to report to the police. Older immigrants, regardless of status, perceived the police to be more procedurally just, more obliged to obey, and had higher levels of trust in the police. Overall, police perceptions, including perceived distributive justice, procedural justice, and trust had the strongest impact on willingness to report. The results from this study provide promising implications for police policy and practice.