Food security is necessary for an active, healthy life, yet 14.0% of the nation’s households reported insecurity in 2014. Certain segments of the population which contain high proportions of noncitizens have greater than average rates of food insecurity. The rules of eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) render some noncitizens ineligible possibly contributing to these high rates. Data in the Food Security Supplement of the December 2014 Current Population Survey show the rates of food insecurity differ among households of different citizenship status. When compared to households composed entirely of U.S. born citizens, households composed entirely of noncitizens and households including at least one citizen born in U.S. territories are more food insecure. Households composed entirely of naturalized citizens are less food insecure than the U.S. born. Length of residence of the foreign born was not found to be significant.

abstract: The study of non-U.S. citizens in criminal justice system outcomes has often been neglected in the sentencing literature. When citizenship is considered, there are generally no distinctions made within this group. The research fails to consider differences according to legal status, race/ethnicity, nationality and other distinctive markers that might play a role in sentencing outcomes. Using federal sentencing data collected by the United States Sentencing Commission for fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2008, this study examines the effect of offender citizenship status, legal status, and national origin on the likelihood of imprisonment and length of imprisonment for offenders convicted of drug offenses. The current study considers differences among foreign-born and Latino immigrant subgroups (e.g., Colombian, Cuban, Dominican, and Mexican nationals). The key findings in this dissertation include: (1) non-U.S. citizens have greater odds of imprisonment than U.S. citizens. However, non-U.S. citizen offenders receive significantly shorter prison terms relative to U.S. citizen offenders; (2) undocumented immigrants are more likely to be incarcerated compared to similarly situated authorized immigrants and U.S. citizens. However, legal status does not have an effect on sentence length; and (3) with respect to national origin, Mexican nationals are significantly more likely than Colombians to be incarcerated and are given significantly longer prison sentences than Dominican nationals. The implications of these findings and future research are addressed in the concluding chapter. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2013