A DREAM Deferred: The Effects of the Illegal Immigration Reform and the Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 on the Secondary and Postsecondary Educational Attainment of Undocumented Youth

• In Event: Roundtable Session 40
  In Roundtable Session: Law and Education SIG Roundtable Papers

Abstract

In this paper, I examine data from the Current Population Survey Merged Outgoing Rotating Groups (CPS-MORG), for the years 1994-2001, to examine whether the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) had an effect on undocumented: high-school graduation (for 18-21 year-olds), college enrollment (for 18-24 year-olds), associate’s-degree attainment and bachelor’s-degree attainment (both for 22-30 year-old). Using difference-in-differences estimation strategies, I find that IIRIRA led to sharp declines in educational attainment. Applying a blended framework that uses liminal legality to understand the college decisions of undocumented youth, I conclude that undocumented residency status as administered by IIRIRA converges over time to be a master status that makes the cost of attending college prohibitive while nearly eliminating any benefits.

Author

• Matthew Patrick Shaw, Harvard University