The Political Context of Immigration Policy and Undocumented Student Performance

• In Event: Representation at the Frontline: Local Policing and Enforcement

Abstract

This paper examines the role that immigration enforcement policies and anti-immigrant populism play the on long-term academic performance of undocumented students in Texas. We posit that undocumented students living in communities with high levels of anti-immigrant sentiment and policies as well as higher levels of federal and local immigration enforcement will perform more poorly on standardized exams compared to their counterparts due to the external stress and threat such environments present. We also hypothesize that community and institutional supports can moderate these negative effects. Using a unique longitudinal, multi-level dataset, the analysis tracks student-level performance of 400,000 undocumented students in Texas public schools from 2003-2011. These data are merged with county- and city-level data that measure the political and social context as well as the intensity of immigration enforcement at the county level. We also examine how the presence of institutional supports and immigrant-serving nonprofits in the community can moderate the negative effects of anti-immigrant environmental contexts.

Authors

• Daniel P. Hawes, Kent State University

• M. Apolonia Calderon, Texas A&M University

• Daniel E. Chand, Kent State University