Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Federal inaction and security concerns post-September 11th led to a surge in state and local policies aimed at addressing issues related to undocumented immigration. One measure seized by local governments was the application of a formerly unused federal program called 287(g) that legally authorized state and local governments to participate in federal enforcement of immigration law by deputizing local law enforcement agencies to carry out the duties of federal immigration enforcement agents. The LA County Sheriff’s Department became the first to enter into a county-level 287(g) agreement in early 2005, placing federally-trained deputies in county jails to screen convicted inmates for immigration status and issue detainers to those found to be without documentation. Since its inception, LA County’s program has accounted for nearly 20,000 deportations, often disrupting families and placing significant stress on those still in the U.S. with family members at risk of detection. The impact these disruptions can have on the family unit and the children within them has be understudied and largely absent from policy discussions.

LA County’s 287(g) program was a “jail enforcement” agreement by which only sentenced inmates were screened for immigrant status; the agreement did not permit officers to arrest individuals suspected of violating immigration law while in the field—as was done in the more common “task force” model originally employed in other jurisdictions. The Obama Administration turned to this “jail enforcement” model in 2012 amid concerns that “task force” agreements were susceptible to discriminatory policing and eroded police-community relations. From 2012 onward, this new program—resembling LA County’s original 287(g) program—called the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), revised priorities to temper the set of undocumented offenders considered priorities for removal, setting the precedent for 287(g) partnerships going forward.

This study considers how family cohesion changed in the wake of heightened local-level immigration enforcement among undocumented immigrant families residing in LA County. The two waves of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (LA FANS) bookend the 2005 county-wide implementation of 287(g). This study exploits the survey’s timing and immigrant legal status indicators, performing a double difference-in-differences to test whether the policy impacted measures of family cohesion among those comprised of an undocumented parent.

The results of this analysis provide insight into how local immigration enforcement programs in place today may impact family units and the children within them. The current administration recently issued an executive order cutting federal funding to cities that do not require law enforcement officials carry out federal immigration law, suggesting a new era of crackdown on jurisdictions that seek to reduce the potential for harm and increased support for more targeted local immigration enforcement. This study's findings are intended for policy makers, policy researchers, and the public to understand the unintended consequences and residual impact of heightened immigration enforcement on families and children.