The Consequences of Decentralized Immigration Enforcement

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

These four studies offer compelling evidence of how the growing localization of immigration enforcement in the United States generates far-reaching consequences not only for immigrant communities but also for the broader public. As federal authorities increasingly delegate immigration enforcement to state and local actors through mechanisms such as 287(g) agreements, Secure Communities, and criminal sentencing reforms, the research highlights how localized decisions shape deportation risk, labor markets, public trust, and service delivery. In the first paper, criminal sentencing reform policies, reducing misdemeanor sentencing by a single day, are investigated for their potential to reduce deportation exposure without compromising public safety, illustrating how targeted reforms may help decouple the criminal and immigration systems. The second study investigates whether, during periods of economic strain such as the Great Recession, localities facing heightened labor market pressures were more likely to adopt exclusionary immigration enforcement policies, highlighting how economic anxieties may fuel anti-immigrant responses. The third paper explores the behavioral consequences of local enforcement, examining whether programs like 287(g) not only chill undocumented immigrants’ participation in everyday life but also prompt behavioral changes among legal residents and citizens who share ethnic ties, pointing to the broader social reach of profiling and intimidation. Finally, the fourth study shifts the lens to the healthcare sector, investigating whether aggressive enforcement programs like Secure Communities reduce the quality of home healthcare by disrupting the immigrant labor supply crucial to elder care, with implications for patient outcomes, Medicaid spending, and public health planning, especially in for-profit agencies. These studies, taken together, underscore how immigration enforcement, often framed as a national security issue, profoundly affects local governance, labor markets, healthcare delivery, and the lived experiences of both immigrants and citizens, raising urgent questions about justice, equity, and accountability.

Policy Area

• Population and Migration Issues

Secondary Policy Area

• Crime, Justice, and Drugs

Chair

• Stephanie Potochnick, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Discussants

• Jose Bucheli, University of Texas - El Paso

• Alejandro Gutierrez-Li, North Carolina State University

Organizer

• Joaquin Alfredo-Angel Rubalcaba, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Individual Presentations

• The Difference a Day Makes: Can Changes to US Criminal Misdemeanor Sentencing Influence Deportation and Crime? - Presenting Author: Alberto Ortega, Indiana University; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Joaquin Alfredo-Angel Rubalcaba, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Eliminating the Competition? Evidence from the Great Recession and 287(g) Agreements - Presenting Author: Sergio Ernesto Barrera, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

• The Consequences of Intimidation and Profiling in Immigration Enforcement - Presenting Author: Ryan Ellis, Seton Hall

• Immigration Enforcement and the Quality of Home Health Care - Presenting Author: Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, UC Merced