Blurring the Borders of Reentry: Socioeconomic Reintegration among Noncitizens Following Release from Immigration Detention

Abstract

An established literature demonstrates that formerly imprisoned people experience barriers to finding work. However, no research has analyzed how noncitizens experience socioeconomic reintegration following imprisonment. Additionally, while we know many immigrants find work in co-ethnic labor markets, we know little about how these networks respond to individuals with a criminal record. I analyze 321 longitudinal, semi-structured interviews collected between 2013–2016 from 121 noncitizens who were detained by U.S. immigration authorities for six months or longer and then released back into their communities on bond. Results reveal a complex set of socioeconomic reintegration experiences that are shaped by ethnic, legal, generational, and gender stratification in immigrant integration outcomes more broadly. These findings have important implications as immigration laws have become increasingly punitive and intertwined with criminal laws.