Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Immigration Enforcement and Education

(Population and Migration Issues)

An estimated 5.1 million children living in the United States have at least one unauthorized parent; recent estimates suggest as many as one in four Hispanic children have an unauthorized parent. A growing body of research suggests that immigration enforcement policies affect not only the unauthorized adults targeted by these policies but also have spillover effects on their children. For example, policies that increase immigration enforcement negatively impact child health and the likelihood of childhood poverty, among other outcomes.  

These spillover effects of immigration enforcement may also have long-term consequences. Given increases in immigration enforcement under the new administration, understanding these consequences has become increasingly important. This panel includes three papers, which each investigates the effects of immigration enforcement on the academic outcomes of school-age children. Since nearly 80 percent of children with unauthorized parents are U.S. citizens, their educational outcomes affect the future U.S. economy. Together, these papers provide a broader understanding of how increases in enforcement are likely to impact K-12 education.

The first paper, "Going Beyond What Is Expected: ICE Enforcement and Chronic Absenteeism of Migrant and Non-Migrant Students in a California School District," examines how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids affect absenteeism rates. The second paper, "Immigration Enforcement and Student Achievement: The Effects of 287(g) Programs in North Carolina" examines the effect of increases in immigration enforcement on student achievement using individual-level data from North Carolina, as well as differential timing of 287(g) agreements between North Carolina counties and ICE. Finally, the third paper, "Teacher Evaluations of Latina/o Children with Absentee Fathers," investigates how teachers react to information suggesting a child's father is incarcerated, deported, or absent, using an experimental design.