A sharp increase in federal enforcement of immigration laws in response to the wave of illegal immigration over the past two decades has led to a significant rise in the share of all convicted and sentenced federal offenders who are Latino, according to a report to be released tomorrow Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.
In 2007, Latinos accounted for a disproportionate share of all sentenced federal offenders, far in excess of their share in the U.S. adult population. The share of all sentenced offenders who were Latino in 2007 was significantly higher than in 1991.
The report also finds that by 2007, immigration offenses accounted for a much larger share of all federal convictions than in 1991.
