The overarching goal of this study is to quantify the effect of state preemption of local immigration policies on voting, participation in public assistance programs, and birth outcomes. The study, which is novel in its focus on state preemption of city and county policies, builds on existing literature that has identified cross sectional associations between immigration policy and outcomes among not only undocumented immigrants, but also among authorized immigrants, citizens (e.g., children in mixed-status households) and larger population groups, particularly Latinos.
Broadly, the study will focus on policies related to state and local law enforcement agency discretion to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and to enforce federal immigration laws. Cooperation with local law enforcement is impactful because, while ICE employs only ~8,500 enforcement and removal officers, state and local law enforcement agencies employ ~1.2 million people throughout the country. Thus, state and local policies can fundamentally change the deportation risk faced by undocumented immigrants by either requiring or limiting the extent to which large local law enforcement workforces cooperate with ICE and enforce federal immigration law.
The study will focus on Latino populations because they are the largest immigrant group in the U.S., and prior associational research, including by our research group, suggests that anti-immigrant related policies adversely impact health and social policies for Latinos.