Immigrant-serving Organizations as Local Policy Advocates

• In Event: NGO’s in Politics: Mobilization, Inequality, and Inclusion

Abstract

Scholars have enthusiastically examined how nonprofits engage in policy advocacy to serve under-represented and low-power communities in recent decades (e.g., Berry and Arons 2003; Fyall 2017; Li et al. 2016). Yet, very little research has examined how immigrant-serving organizations (ISOs) engage in formal policy advocacy, such as lobbying agencies, on behalf of immigrants. We use responses from a nationwide survey and administrative data (from the IRS and ICE) for all 1,079 ISOs currently operating in the continental United States to determine how effective groups are at shaping local policy implementation. The results show that most groups do not engage in formal advocacy; however, those that do are effective at influencing interior enforcement decisions by government agencies. Organizations that report engaging in policy advocacy activities, on both surveys and their IRS Form 990s, are effective at convincing local law enforcement agencies, particularly county sheriff offices, to not comply with ICE detainers and not participate in enforcement programs such as 287(g). ISO advocacy is also significantly related to lower numbers of local immigrant deportations. Such findings hold substantial implications for scholars and advocates interested in nonprofit advocacy and local policy implementation.

Bibliography:
Berry, Jeffrey M. and David F. Arons. 2003. A Voice for Nonprofits. New York, NY: Brookings Institution Press.
Fyall, Rachel. 2017. “Nonprofits as Advocates and Providers: A Conceptual Framework.” Policy Studies Journal 45(1): 121-143.
Li, Hui, Carlos Wing-Hung Lo, and Shui-Yan Tang. 2016. “Nonprofit Policy Advocacy under Authoritarianism.” Public Administration Review 77(1): 103-117.

Authors

• M. Apolonia Calderon, University of Maryland

• Daniel E. Chand, Kent State University

• Daniel P. Hawes, Kent State University