Uncovering the Citizenship Effect: The Impact of Citizenship Status on Federal Sentencing Outcomes

Scholarly literature on racial disparities has only recently begun to examine the interaction of race/ethnicity and citizenship status in the criminal justice system.  Through the use of measures of ethnic threat, the current study expands the research on citizenship and sentencing by examining if outcomes differ according to the local population.  Using federal sentencing and district-level data, we estimate the effect of the interaction between citizenship status and ethnicity on sentencing outcomes. Results indicate that individuals who are both Hispanic and non-U.S. citizens receive significantly harsher punishments than U.S. citizens, regardless of ethnic threat at the district level.