Published online in: American Educational Research Journal July 2, 2019
Thomas Dee, Stanford University Mark Murphy, Stanford University
Abstract For over a decade, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has formed partnerships allowing 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 their demographic impact. This study presents new evidence based on Hispanic public-school enrollment. We find local ICE partnerships reduce the number of Hispanic students by 10 percent within 2 years. We estimate partnerships enacted before 2012 displaced over 300,000 Hispanic students. These effects are concentrated among elementary-school students. We find no corresponding effects on the enrollment of non-Hispanic students and no evidence that ICE partnerships reduced pupil-teacher ratios or the percent of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program.
Read the news release - "Study Snapshot: Vanished Classmates: The Effects of Local Immigration Enforcement on School Enrollment," here.
3 great back-to-school story ideas (with research to get you started!) Journalist's Resource, August 13, 2019
Hispanic student enrollment decreases after ICE and police partnership Univision, July 12, 2019
Government Cooperation on Immigration Enforcement Means Fewer Hispanic Students U.S. News & World Report, July 8, 2019
Vanished Classmates: The Effects of Local Immigration Enforcement on School Enrollment