iajlIAJLIAJL2709-9490https://doi.org/10.47310/iajl.2020.v01i01.002Theories on Immigration and CrimeAv.JafarSamdaniMihaelaAgheniteiPerspectives advancing a positive immigration-crime relationship include demographic transition, population instability, labor market structure and illegal drug markets arguments. Demographic transition arguments focus on changes in the demographic characteristics of the population following increases or decreases in immigration. This argument maintains that immigration can elevate crime by increasing the share of the population with low educational attainment, marginal labor skills and poor employment prospects. In sum, despite an abundance of explanations for why immigration may both cause and reduce crime in neighborhoods, cities and metropolitan areas, almost no research has empirically tested these explanations, leaving us relatively in the dark about the “immigration-crime nexus.” Hence, a critical next step is for researchers to test various explanatory frameworks that posit intervening mechanisms by which immigration affects crime rates at the macro level.