New Book Reframes the Immigration and Crime Debate by Examining Black Labor Market Displacement

The Hidden Cost of Immigration explores how immigration may affect urban crime indirectly through labor-market competition and economic inequality

WESTON, Fla., Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Weston Publishing announces the release of The Hidden Cost of Immigration: Black Labor Market Displacement and Urban Crime, a new book by Florida International University criminologists Stewart J. D'Alessio and Lisa Stolzenberg and doctoral researcher Troy Teresak.

Published by Springer as part of its SpringerBriefs in Criminology series, the book examines a largely overlooked question in the immigration and crime debate: What if immigration affects crime not primarily through crimes committed by immigrants, but through changes in employment opportunities for economically vulnerable workers?

Decades of research show that immigrants are no more likely to commit crime than native-born Americans and often have lower rates of criminal involvement. The authors do not dispute that evidence. Instead, they examine whether immigration may indirectly influence crime through competition in lower-skilled labor markets.

Using longitudinal data from 200 U.S. cities and crime data from the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System, the authors find that increases in the non-U.S. citizen population are associated with increases in Black offending, but not with comparable relationships for White offending.

The authors emphasize that the findings do not fully establish that individual immigrants displaced particular workers who subsequently committed crimes. However, the results are consistent with the possibility that immigration interacts with existing labor-market inequalities and economic marginalization.

"Our book asks researchers and policymakers to look beyond the traditional question of whether immigrants commit more crime," the authors said. "Immigration is also an economic and demographic change, and its effects may extend to people competing within the same labor markets."

The book also examines policy approaches designed to strengthen employment opportunities for disadvantaged communities without framing the issue as a choice between immigrants and native-born workers.

The Hidden Cost of Immigration: Black Labor Market Displacement and Urban Crime was published by Springer in August 2026 and is available in eBook and softcover formats.

About the Authors
Stewart J. D'Alessio and Lisa Stolzenberg are criminology professors in the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University. Troy Teresak is a doctoral candidate in International Crime and Justice at FIU.

Media Contact
Weston Publishing
954-274-8525
[email protected]
westonbooks.com

SOURCE Weston Publishing