Destination Effects? Group Disparities in Socioeconomic Well-being Across the American Landscape

• In Event: 40865 - Latinos in Comparative Places

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, there has been a rise in states passing legislation that determines immigrants’ access to a wide range of benefits and protections, often based on citizenship status. I examine the extent to which state immigration policy contexts at the state-level shape the socioeconomic well-being of individuals. Leveraging a unique dataset that combines state policies and Census data, I examine two types of group disparities in total household income by citizenship status and level of immigration restriction at the state level. I first address how immigration policy context shapes socioeconomic well-being across White, Black, Asian, American Indian, and Latino groups. Additional analysis addresses how intra-ethnic socioeconomic well-being among the Latino diaspora is shaped by state immigration policy context. Preliminary findings suggest that states had an average of 10 immigration restrictive policies, with California being the least restrictive and Alabama being the most restrictive. Preliminary findings show key demographic differences by citizenship status and ethno-racial group. Non-citizens live in states with a median income of approximately $61,686, while native born individuals and naturalized citizens live in states with median incomes higher than $74,000. Even further, Latinos (42%) and Asians (30%) represented the largest shares of non-citizens in the sample. Among naturalized citizens, Asians (38%) had the largest shares, followed by White (28%) and Latinos (25%). Within the Latino diaspora, Mexicans held the largest shares of native born, naturalized, and non-citizens.

Author

• Giovanni Román-Torres, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor