| The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the Wickersham Commission (1929--1931) and more specifically its report on immigration and crime. The aim was to discover the reasons for the creation of the commission and for the explicit examination of the topic of immigration and crime. The popular perceptions as well as the realities pertaining to the subject of immigration and its relationship to crime rates were studied utilizing the report itself, as well as contemporary press and available secondary sources. Analysis and comparison of the presented statistics and information were conducted, and when relevant, data, such as census records were consulted in order to support or contest its findings. The results of the inquiry included clear evidence that foreign criminals had systematically and routinely been exported to the United States throughout the country's history, and that the public perception has always been that more immigration equals more crime. This belief was very strong during the 1920s, and popular opinion held that foreigners were responsible for the vast majority of prohibition era crimes. Uniform crime reporting in the United States was in its absolute infancy at the time of the commission, and effective comparison was difficult. Nonetheless, the primary conclusion was that, despite the realities of the importation of criminals, the public perception that immigration equaled crime and the quality of available data, foreign born individuals in the United States were actually less likely to commit crimes, and furthermore, the most likely criminals of the day were native born white males. |
