Research on Immigration and Crime, FY 2019 | NIJ 2019 15588

Opportunity Information: Apply for NIJ 2019 15588

The Department of Justice, through the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), released the FY 2019 grant opportunity titled "Research on Immigration and Crime" (Funding Opportunity Number: NIJ 2019 15588) to support new, targeted research on the relationship between immigration and crime. This solicitation was framed as a response to an administration priority to develop a clearer, evidence-based understanding of the "nexus" between crime and immigration, explicitly covering both legal and illegal immigration. In practical terms, the program sought studies that could better measure and explain how crime involvement and criminal justice outcomes differ across illegal immigrants, legal immigrants, and native-born populations, with attention to different types of crimes and different subgroups within immigrant populations.

A central focus of the solicitation was research that compares the contributions of illegal immigrants to violent crime and other crime categories against those of legal immigrants and native populations. The language also emphasized breaking these comparisons down further, meaning applicants were encouraged to look beyond broad labels and examine subcategories of immigration status and subcategories of crime. That could include distinctions based on offense type, severity, geographic context, or other definable groupings that help clarify where differences do or do not exist. The aim was not just descriptive statistics, but deeper analysis capable of informing policy debates with more precise evidence.

Another major research area involved how illegal immigrants move through the criminal justice system relative to other populations. This part of the solicitation highlights process and outcomes, such as differences in arrest patterns, charging decisions, pretrial detention, plea bargaining, sentencing, incarceration, and release. The program’s framing suggests interest in whether immigration status is associated with different decision points or case outcomes, and how those patterns compare with legal immigrants and the native-born. In other words, it was not limited to crime commission rates, but also addressed system handling and processing.

The solicitation also called for research on enforcement activities and crime in jurisdictions operating under 287(g) agreements. Under 287(g), local law enforcement agencies enter into agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that allow designated local officers to perform certain immigration enforcement functions. NIJ expressed interest in examining how these enforcement arrangements relate to crime patterns in those jurisdictions, which could involve studying changes in reported crime, victim reporting behavior, arrests, community trust, or other public safety indicators in places with 287(g) participation compared to similar jurisdictions without such agreements.

This was a discretionary grant program using the grant funding instrument, and it fell under activity categories that include law, justice and legal services as well as science and technology and other research and development. The CFDA number associated with the opportunity was 16.560, reflecting NIJ’s research assistance programming. The eligible applicant pool was broad and included state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; nonprofit organizations (both with and without 501(c)(3) status); individuals; for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and other entities as described in the solicitation’s eligibility clarification field.

The opportunity was created on February 28, 2019, with an original application closing date of May 20, 2019. NIJ anticipated making up to five awards, with an award ceiling of $3,000,000 per award. Overall, the grant was designed to fund empirical research that could provide more rigorous, policy-relevant findings on immigration status, crime involvement, criminal justice processing, and the public safety implications of immigration enforcement partnerships such as 287(g).

• The Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice in the law, justice and legal services, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Research on Immigration and Crime, FY 2019" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 28, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 20, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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