Can Immigration Enforcement Policies Induce Labor Market Discrimination? Evidence from Secure Communities

Abstract

Immigration policies have been increasingly targeting the undocumented population in the United States, potentially elevating employer prejudice against this group and inducing labor market discrimination. Using ACS data and reports from ICE, I test whether Secure Communities (SC), a deportation program initiated in 2008, had spillover effects on labor market outcomes of Hispanic male citizens and legal immigrants. Using a difference-in- difference regression, I estimate the effect of SC between the pre-treatment period (2007) and the post-treatment period (2010) on annual earnings of my treatment group. The latter consists of Hispanic male citizens and legal immigrants working in SC counties, and my control group consists of Hispanic male citizens and legal immigrants working in non-SC counties. I consider any negative change in wages or annual earnings as evidence in support of labor market discrimination. I find that Hispanic men working in treated counties witnessed a decline in their annual earnings of 3.4% in magnitude as a result of the implementation of SC. I find no significant effect of SC on employment of Hispanic men, and no significant gender or border (states that border Mexico versus those that do not) differences in my treatment group.