State-Scale Immigration Enforcement and Latino Interstate Migration in the United States

Do restrictive omnibus immigration laws reduce enrollment in public health insurance by Latino citizen children? A comparative interrupted time series study

“…There is some evidence that, during the study period, both the recession (Ellis et al, 2014a) and state and local immigration laws (Ellis et al, 2016, 2014b; Watson, 2013) influenced where immigrants settled within the US. Low-skilled immigrants—those most likely to be undocumented—disproportionately relocated to states with less restrictive laws after omnibus law passage (Bohn et al, 2014; Ellis et al, 2016, 2014b).…”

“…Low-skilled immigrants—those most likely to be undocumented—disproportionately relocated to states with less restrictive laws after omnibus law passage (Bohn et al, 2014; Ellis et al, 2016, 2014b). If this occurred in our sample, the composition of the state’s Latino population would have shifted toward a smaller proportion of children in policy states with undocumented parents, which could bias the results for children of noncitizen parents toward zero.…”

“…There is little information about whether and how implementation proceeded for those provisions that were allowed to take effect (Pham, 2008). However, law passage had immediate effects on communities, even before implementation, and there is some evidence that legally-present Latino immigrants experienced spillover effects (Ellis et al, 2016; Quiroga et al, 2014). Latinos—particularly low-skilled noncitizens—were more likely to migrate from, and less likely to migrate to, states with omnibus laws (Bohn et al, 2014; Ellis et al, 2016).…”

“…However, law passage had immediate effects on communities, even before implementation, and there is some evidence that legally-present Latino immigrants experienced spillover effects (Ellis et al, 2016; Quiroga et al, 2014). Latinos—particularly low-skilled noncitizens—were more likely to migrate from, and less likely to migrate to, states with omnibus laws (Bohn et al, 2014; Ellis et al, 2016). The federal government found that Alabama’s law led to an immediate drop in school enrollment and attendance among Latino children that was not entirely attributable to outmigration, with “continuing and lasting consequences” for Latino students (Perez, 2012, p. 2).…”

Health and Mental Health Effects of Local Immigration Enforcement

“…Evidence is also mixed on the effect of local enforcement on migration patterns: Watson (2013) found that Task Force Enforcement policies increased the outflow of non-citizens with some college education, Ellis, Wright and Townley (2016) found that hostile immigration policies (e.g., local immigration enforcement policies, E-Verify, access to driver's licenses) in a state reduced the inflow of non-citizen and naturalized Latinos in that state, whereas Parrado (2012) found that 287(g) did not affect the size of Mexican immigrant population in most localities except for large cities such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Phoenix, which registered a decline in the number of Mexican immigrants relative to other large cities without 287(g). In addition, research 3 Some localities resisted the implementation of SC (Chen, 2016;Strunk & Leitner, 2013), but such initiatives were not systematically and reliably documented for a national-level examination of their impacts.…”