The racial makeup of prison inmates has long been a topic of interest in discussions of policymaking and social issues. Daily records are kept of prison populations to study demographic trends. For example, black Americans are overrepresented in prison, a fact that informs many policy debates. Blacks make up just over 13 percent of the general U.S. population but the U.S. prison and jail population is 38 percent black, according to research from the Prison Policy Initiative.
According to the daily inmate data from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, the state has changed its record-keeping, resulting in far fewer inmates listed as Hispanic.
Pennsylvania’s population is 81.6 percent white, 12 percent black, and 7.8 percent Hispanic.
But of the 38,623 inmates in Pennsylvania’s 23 state prisons, only 16—that is, 0.0004 percent of the prison population—are listed as Hispanic. This is far less than in 2019 when the Annual Statistical Report, authored by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Prisons, reported 9 percent of its population as Hispanic.
The U.S. Census Bureau defines “Hispanic or Latino” as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, or Central American origin, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The “Hispanic or Latino” question is asked separately from the race question on the census questionnaire, so a person may identify themselves as Hispanic and white or Hispanic and black.
According to that definition, all of the inmates who are citizens of the countries or regions listed above should be classified as Hispanic.
It’s not that there are fewer Hispanics and Latinos. They are being classified differently, and it seems to be tied to their citizenship.
The state corrections system currently has 87 inmates who are Mexican citizens. Some speak only Spanish and need interpreters. All are listed as white, the online Pennsylvania Inmate Locator shows.
A state corrections employee confirmed to The Epoch Times that until several months ago, state records listed inmates who would fit the definition of Hispanic as Hispanic. Now all but 16 have been changed to white or black. The Epoch Times is not naming the employee because doing so could jeopardize the employee’s job.
Of the 10 Cuban citizens currently incarcerated, three are now listed as black and seven are labeled white.
The online inmate locator doesn’t list citizens of Central America by country. Instead, they are lumped together as one category. Of the 41 citizens of Central American countries, six are listed as black, 35 are listed as white, and none are listed as Hispanic.
The four inmates with citizenship from India are also classified as white.
In addition to the category labeled “race/ethnicity,” the records list the inmate’s skin complexion as light, fair, medium, olive, or dark.
Of the 16 inmates across Pennsylvania who are listed as Hispanic, 15 are U.S. citizens and one is listed as “citizenship unknown.”
To be listed as Hispanic in the Pennsylvania corrections system, it appears an inmate must be a U.S. citizen, although the state did not confirm that.
Maria Bivens, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, was asked when and why the state changed how it classifies inmate race and ethnicity, and whether an inmate must be a U.S. citizen to be classified as Hispanic, but Bivens did not respond to emailed questions from The Epoch Times.
Luz Colon, Gov. Tom Wolf’s executive director of Latino affairs, did not respond to a request for comment.
Republican Charlie Gerow, the first Latino to run for governor of Pennsylvania, said he was not sure what to make of the racial classifications.
“I’m surprised the state corrections department is doing that. Using the Census Bureau definition of Hispanic seems to be a better way of classifying inmates,” Gerow told The Epoch Times. “You don’t need to walk through any of our state correctional facilities to realize that there are far more than 16 Hispanics there.”
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