This year, professor Charis Kubrin will get the biggest prize a criminologist can receive. She’s also under threat.
UC Irvine professor of criminology, law and society, Charis Kubrin at UCI in Irvine on Monday, February 23, 2026 is the winner of the 2026 is winner of the Stockholm Prize for her research disproving the myth that immigrants cause more crime in their new country.
Immigrants, authorized and otherwise, are less likely to commit serious crime or be sent to prison than are native-born Americans.is making the professional life of Charis Kubrin, a criminology professor at UC Irvine, both highly rewarding and potentially dangerous. The reward side of the deal is this: In June, Kubrin is scheduled to go to Sweden to collect the prestigious Stockholm Prize in Criminology, an award she’s getting specifically because of her long-term work on the intersection of immigration and crime. When the Stockholm Prize in Criminology Foundation announced its choice, late last year, it described Kubrin as a “myth buster,” saying the data she and colleagues have reported over the past few decades has generated “an abundance of evidence disproving claims that immigration generally, let alone universally, raises crime in communities.”That would be a particularly disturbing piece of real hate mail Kubrin received late last year after she was quoted in a news story about immigration and crime. The threat was part of a broader pushback Kubrin has felt as her work has become more public, and as everybody from President Donald Trump to heads of various government agencies have made fact-challenged claims about immigrant crime as a reason for mass deportations. “Immigrant crime has always been divisive, as a topic, and it’s even more divisive now,” Kubrin said. “If I’m on an airplane and I’m working on my laptop to write up my next talk, and somebody looks over my shoulder, they want to talk about it. I can tell,” she added. “When I tell them what I do, it used to be, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ Now, it’s sometimes a lot of very strong opinions.” Kubrin isn’t thrilled with the threats. She reported the recent over-the-top missive to the police, and has felt frustration and fear after receiving other, similar messages. Still, Kubrin says it’s critical to make sure her work, and similar work by other criminologists, is publicized and discussed. In addition to writing about her findings , she makes a point of speaking to nearly any group that asks. She’s talked and answered questions in venues as diverse as brand-name universities and local Rotary clubs and at least one senior living home near UCI’s campus. Her audiences have been just as diverse, ranging from people who are sympathetic to immigrants and immigration, and others who believe many or all immigrants should be deported. Critically, Kubrin says she would share the result of her work on immigration and crime even if the data showed that immigrants committed more crime than native-born people. She’s quick to note some immigrants do commit crimes, sometimes horrific ones, and that studying crime — who commits it and why — is important regardless of the criminal’s background. But she also believes that immigration policy should be based less on anecdotes about individual immigrants committing lurid crimes, and more on research and science and data.over the past half-century shows, clearly, that immigrants, as a group, commit less crime than nonimmigrants. It’s true of immigrants with permission to live in this country, and it’s true of the 13.7 million or so who live here without the proper paperwork. It’s true in other parts of the world, where immigration has reshaped populations, and it’s been true for many decades. The difference isn’t trivial, either. The Cato Institute study found that the 2023 incarceration rate for native-born Americans was 1,221 per 100,000, nearly twice the rate for undocumented immigrants and roughly four times higher than for legal immigrants Kubrin, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, recently answered some questions about immigration and crime. She also talked about perceptions, and misperceptions, of the issue, and the perils she and others are facing as a result of talking about it. , and that’s true in a lot of cultures and over different eras. Among criminologists who study this, is there a theory for why? A: “The findings aren’t surprising, at least not from the perspective of social theory. First, immigrants themselves are not a random cross-section of people; they’re a self-selected group. … Most are coming here to improve their life chances, usually by getting higher-paying work. That suggests they’re goal-oriented, and that’s not a trait associated with a propensity for criminal behavior. “There’s also another argument that there are protective effects of living in immigrant enclaves. There are strong ties among residents, extensive social networks, informal social control. … A lot of those factors play a role as well.” Q: Most crime data from state and federal agencies don’t include a perpetrator’s immigration status. How have researchers teased out numbers for who is and isn’t committing crime? A: “It’s true that a lot of the data collected often doesn’t differentiate between native-born and foreign-born offenders, or between documented and undocumented. But we can look at crime data in different communities, and compare the numbers with census data for those communities, to determine crime rates by immigrant and nonimmigrant communities. So we use all of it, crime data, census data and regression analysis.both collected. In Texas, for example, Michael Light has looked at data that shows, unequivocally, that foreign-born people — including undocumented people — are less likely to engage in crime.Q: This idea isn’t hard to understand. Why do you think so many people argue that immigrants are criminals? A: “It’s not just Americans. Resistance to this idea seems to be consistent whenever, and wherever, immigration has been big enough to shape societies. “As to why it’s so stubborn right now, I’d say media has a lot to do with it. Some media outlets use individual events, as horrific as they are, to tell a story about the broader group. … You never see a headline ‘Native-born American kills again.’ But you do see news coverage of crime that focuses on the perpetrator’s immigration status. That shapes people’s views.” Q: Is your basic message — “Hey, immigrants are less likely to be criminals than you’ve been told” — starting to gain traction with the general public?, when asked about the impact of the recent migrant influx on crime in the U.S., a majority of Americans said the large number of migrants seeking to enter the country leads to more crime.” Q: For a long time, you’ve spoken to groups about this issue. Are you still getting asked? And, if you are, are you still getting asked by people who aren’t sympathetic to immigrants? A: “I’m always being asked, by all kinds of groups, and I welcome that. The work is not done when the science is done. You have to go out and do something with the findings. Academics have a role to play in the discussion; not the whole discussion, of course, but the results of research should be part of the conversation.“But, also, imagine what might be accomplished if we stopped our rabid obsession with immigrant crime? We’re starting with a ‘problem’ that isn’t actually a problem. But what would happen if we focused on a true crime problem: gender-based violence, corporate fraud, mass shootings? We’re investing resources in a way that doesn’t make sense, at least not if you’re trying to reduce crime. “The people I talk to, ultimately, are voters. And they’re policy makers. If they have better facts, that might influence policy.”A: “I talk with reporters all the time, and when a reporter will quote me I’ll get a rash of emails or phone calls. Many aren’t violent, but in the that are violent there’s an overlay that is very misogynistic and anti-science and anti-immigrant.” Q: Do you get notes from people thanking you for spreading that message? On balance, what’s the score: more hate mail or more love letters? A: “I do, and they are very refreshing. I don’t keep score but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s 70-30, hate mail versus kind words.”A: “The one thing I try and do, been doing this my whole career, is to simply focus on the research. “I can’t solve the immigration problem. What does the perfect immigration system look like? I don’t know. “But what I’m trying to do is to do my research, and do what I can to make sure research on this topic is part of the answer.”“I want to share the data-driven findings on the immigration-crime nexus and immigration policy’s impact on public safety in the U.S.; sharing personal stories of my research journey and lessons learned along the way. Leader of Guatemala-to-U.S. human smuggling group pleads guilty in L.A. to conspiracy and hostage takingFor US Muslims, immigration crackdown fears, new war worries and anti-Muslim rhetoric cloud RamadanLos Angeles Marathon: Here’s the route map for Sunday’s raceVideo from LA sheriff’s department shows fatal West Hills deputy shootingLA Marathon: Freeway ramps and street closures for the March 8 raceLA Marathon: How to watch the race live on Sunday on TV
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