Deborah Denno comments to the Washington Post on a new federal report that said more than half of all people sent to federal prison for committing felony crimes so far in 2011 were Hispanic, a major demographic shift swollen by immigration offenses.
“Statistics like this have to start drawing attention to this country’s immigration policies and what we’re doing, if this is one of the results,” said Fordham University Law School professor Deborah Denno, an expert on racial disparities in the criminal justice system. “The implications for Hispanics are huge when you think of the number of families affected by having their breadwinners put away for what in some cases would be considered a non-violent offense.”
The Washington Post story ran on September 6, 2011.