DOI: 10.3886/icpsr39110.v1
title: Crime and Victimization on the United States-Mexico Border: A Comparison of Legal Residents, Illegal Residents and Native-Born Citizens, Texas, 2019-2023
title: Version 1

description: The project was divided into two studies that together sought to compare criminal histories and victimization experiences for immigrants compared to U.S.-born citizens in the U.S.-México border region. Study one (datasets 1 and 2) of the project consists of secondary data from the El Paso County Sheriff's office, the US Census, and the El Paso Neighborhood Survey. Study two (dataset 3) of the project consists of interviews with inmates from El Paso county jails.
description: The purpose of this study was to understand the link between immigration, crime, and victimization in the US-Mexico border region. In comparing experiences of participants, the project team asked 4 research questions: (1) How do the criminal histories of legal residents and illegal residents compare to U.S. born citizens?, (2) What are the individual- and neighborhood-level characteristics that contribute to criminal behavior for legal residents, illegal residents, and U.S.-born citizens in the U.S.-México border region?, (3) How do the victimization histories of legal residents and illegal residents compare to U.S. born citizens?, and (4) What are the characteristics that are associated with victimization for legal residents, illegal residents, and U.S.-born citizens in the U.S.-México border region?
description: Study 1 uses data from multiple existing sources. Data from El Paso County Sherriff's Office was provided through the El Paso County Criminal Justice and Community Support Department ("CJC"). These data were collected as a part of standard criminal justice processing and linked with data on criminal charges sourced from El Paso County's pre-trial risk assessment tool, publicly available U.S. Census data, and data from the El Paso Neighborhood Survey.
Study 2 uses data from face-to-face interviews with inmates from El Paso County jails. Please refer to the documentation for more information on Study 1 and Study 2.
description: Study one (datasets 1 and 2) provides information on defendants' charges, demographic information, and neighborhood characteristics. Study two (dataset 3) provides
detailed information on demographics, acculturation, immigration, criminal history, victimization history, social support, self-control, levels of service, and case management inventory.
description: The sampling frame for Study 1 included all intakes for felonies and misdemeanors to El Paso County jails from April 1, 2019 to August 11, 2019. The final sample size for Study 1 was 5,611.
For Study 2, a probability sample of participants was selected from admissions to El Paso County jails for felony and misdemeanors from November 17, 2021 and May 3, 2023. A total of 280 inmates were interviewed.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Study 1 - Secondary Data
DS2: Study 1 - Variables for Multilevel Analysis
DS3: Study 2 - Inmate Interviews
description: Persons booked into El Paso County, Texas jails. Smallest Geographic Unit: Census block
description: face-to-face interview; mixed mode