Criminal Justice in the Age of Crimmigration

The interconnections between immigration, crime, and criminal justice are leaving a stronger and more lasting imprint on penal policy, the design of penal institutions, policing practices, and legal outcomes than in previous periods. This review presents the work of a growing area of scholarly inquiry that highlights the transformative impact of immigration control on criminal justice. Although heated and fierce political rhetoric about immigrants commands a lot of media and scholarly attention, the actual contours of immigration policies within the criminal justice field are more difficult to discern and demand empirical examination. The review also addresses the potential challenges these developments represent for justice and the rule of law, which lie not only in the harshness of the system but also in the fact that it may serve as a vehicle for the growth of authoritarianism and exceptionalism.