Latinos are far less likely to contact police to report crime because of fears that doing so could trigger immigration detention and deportation. That’s according to new polling data released today of over 2000 Latinos in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and Phoenix. The report, “Inse Communities: Latino Perceptions of Police Involvement in Immigration Enforcement,” finds that Latinos in general and undocumented Latino immigrants in particular are unlikely to call police to report crime because of fears that police will inquire about their immigration status. University of Illinois Chicago researchers and Lake Research Associates pollsters found that 44 percent of Latinos in these cities say they’re unlikely to call police if they’re victim of a crime. And 70 percent of undocumented Latino immigrants say they’re less likely to tell police if they’ve been targeted by a criminal act.
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