Immigration Policy and Justice in the Era of COVID-19.

The U.S. immigration system has not escaped the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns have been raised about policy changes, enforcement actions, immigrant detention, and deportation practices during the outbreak. In response, dozens of lawsuits have been brought against the government on behalf of undocumented immigrants and detainees, ranging from the conditions of ICE detention facilities to the public charge rule. While most cases continue to move through the federal court system, a number of district court judges have already ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. This paper focuses on three particular areas of immigration policy and practice during COVID: ICE enforcement actions, immigrant detention, and deportations. We summarize the current state of extant data and evidence on each of these and examine questions that remain for further research.

Prevalence of victimization and exposure to violence in a sample of Hispanic Americans: a research note.

Research on the growing U.S. Hispanic population has increased in recent years, although much of this work has examined differences between the foreign- and native-born or between Hispanics and non-Hispanics. Fewer studies have explored within-group differences (Mexican vs. Puerto Rican vs. Cuban, etc.) and none have assessed variability in the prevalence of victimization across these diverse groups. Unfortunately, the available evidence is somewhat inconclusive regarding the prevalence of victimization among Hispanics and relative to other demographic groups such as Whites and Blacks. This study first aims to provide clarification as to the prevalence of Hispanic victimization relative to non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and non-Hispanic Blacks (NHB). Then, we assess within-group differences for the Hispanic subsample for each of the victimization measures. Using Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we estimate the prevalence of various forms of criminal victimization and exposure to violence for Hispanics, NHW, and NHB. Results suggest that significant differences exist between Hispanics and both NHW and NHB. More specifically, Hispanics were less likely to report most of the victimization outcomes than either group. Significant differences in victimization were also observed between Hispanic subgroups. Generally, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans were most likely to report victimization whereas Cubans and Chicanos (with the exception of property crime) were least likely to report victimization.

Self-control and health outcomes in a nationally representative sample.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the link between low self-control during adolescence and health problems in early adulthood. METHODS: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examined the relationship between varying levels of self-control and the likelihood of being diagnosed with a variety of physical and brain-based health conditions. RESULTS: Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that subjects with lower levels of self-control had significantly higher odds of being diagnosed with 9 of the 10 health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Targeting the development of self-control in childhood and adolescence may be valuable in preventing future health problems.

Reexamining the correlates of adolescent violent victimization: the importance of exposure, guardianship, and target characteristics.

The present study examines the relative contributions of various theoretical constructs to violent victimization by operationalizing multiple measures of exposure to motivated offenders, guardianship, and target characteristics. Using a nationally representative sample of American adolescents, we conducted principal components factor analysis and logistic regression analysis to examine whether such measures do in fact represent empirically distinct constructs and if they are each correlated with violent victimization risk. Findings suggest that both nondelinquent and delinquent routine activities which expose adolescents to motivated offenders increase risk of victimization. In terms of guardianship, parental attachment appears to protect adolescents from victimization, although direct parental control actually increases risk. Finally, only one of four target characteristics-psychological vulnerability-was significantly associated with violent victimization risk. We discuss the implications for theory and future research in light of the findings.