Working Paper: NBER ID: w25080
Authors: Thomas Dee; Mark Murphy
Abstract: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the federal law-enforcement agency with primary responsibility for enforcing immigration laws within the U.S. However, for over a decade, ICE has formed partnerships that also allow local police to enforce immigration law (i.e., identifying and arresting undocumented residents). Prior studies, using survey data with self-reported immigrant and citizenship status, provide mixed evidence on the demographic impact of these controversial partnerships. This study presents new evidence based on the public-school enrollment of Hispanic students. We find that local ICE partnerships reduce the number of Hispanic students by nearly 10 percent within 2 years. We estimate that the local ICE partnerships enacted before 2012 displaced over 300,000 Hispanic students. These effects appear to be concentrated among elementary-school students. We find no corresponding effects on the enrollment of non-Hispanic students. We also find no evidence that ICE partnerships reduced pupil-teacher ratios or the percent of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
Keywords: immigration; enforcement; education; Hispanic students; ICE partnerships
JEL Codes: I2; J15
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| local ICE partnerships (K37) | reduction in Hispanic student enrollment (I24) |
| local ICE partnerships (K37) | displacement of Hispanic students (I24) |
| local ICE partnerships (K37) | unwelcoming environments for undocumented residents and Hispanic citizens (K37) |
| reduction in Hispanic student enrollment (I24) | discouragement of new families from arriving (J12) |