Caught in the Crossfire: Immigration Enforcement and Student Performance

• In Event: Immigration Policy Implementation and Public Service Provision

Abstract

This paper examines the role that local immigration enforcement efforts play the on long-term academic performance of undocumented students in Texas. We posit that undocumented students living in communities with enhanced immigration enforcement policies will perform less well on standardized exams compared to their non-immigrant counterparts due to the external stress, threat and instability created but such environments. 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 undocumented and citizen students in Texas public schools from 2003-2018. 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, representation and immigrant-serving nonprofits in the community can moderate the negative effects of anti-immigrant environmental contexts.

Authors

• Daniel P. Hawes, Kent State University

• Daniel E. Chand, Kent State University