Discussions about immigration in the U.S. frequently center around immigrants’ impact on public safety, how immigrants affect the labor outcomes of U.S.-born workers, and the financial strain brought on by the influx of new migrants. But, what does the research say about the impact of immigration on U.S.-born individuals? In new research, CU Denver economics professors Chloe East, PhD, Hani Mansour, PhD, and Andrea Velásquez, PhD, help to clarify what is rhetoric and what is reality.
Their latest study looks at the economic impact of an immigration enforcement policy, Secure Communities, which was implemented between 2008 and 2014 and led to the deportation of more than 450,000 unauthorized immigrants from the U.S. Secure Communities increased the information shared between local law enforcement and the federal government to make it easier to apprehend and remove undocumented immigrants. The researchers combined their expertise in labor and migration to analyze the impact of this policy. We sat down with them to learn more about their research and how their findings can help inform the design of future immigration policies.
What brought the three of you together to work on this research?
East: My dissertation was on immigrant access to safety net programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and that then led to me learning a lot more about immigration policy broadly in the U.S. It was apparent that recent enforcement policies were driving an increase in detentions and deportations, and so [they] were very relevant to current political and popular discourse. It seemed like a really important topic to provide scientific evidence on as a way to contribute to the larger discussion.
Mansour: At the time I was working with some other colleagues on a data set that we felt might provide insights on the effects of these immigration policies on the labor market, so we started talking about using that as a way to think about addressing this issue. And then, obviously, Andrea [Velásquez] is an expert in migration, Chloe [East] has done work on immigrants, and I have studied different aspects of the U.S. labor markets, so it was a natural partnership between the three of us.
What are some key findings from your research?
Velásquez: The main takeaway is that these policies impact not only the targeted immigrant communities but also have significant and unintended effects on U.S. citizens. This is because immigrants are crucial to the economy. Moreover, the influence of these policies extends beyond the direct removal of immigrants, affecting the economy through shifts in the country’s political climate as well. Such shifts alter how immigrant communities that are already integrated within the population interact with each other and with U.S. citizens. For instance, research has shown how the mental health of immigrants and their work-commuting decisions have been impacted by these policies. That absolutely has economic and social consequences for everyone.
Mansour: An important and unique feature of this study is that it analyzed immigration enforcement policies that empowered local police to apprehend undocumented immigrants. This is not common in the U.S. because, typically, federal agents have been responsible for deportation and the management of immigration. This change gave wide discretion to police officers in terms of who to apprehend and for what reason. The initial goal was to find and remove hardcore criminals, but, in reality, it led to the removal of many undocumented immigrants with minor infractions. As a result, this broad discretion to apprehend generated a lot of fear in immigrant communities (regardless of documentation status) that increased the risk of working outside and the risk of interacting with any government agencies.
East: Exactly! In the U.S., there are a lot of mixed households. So, if I am a citizen but am married to an undocumented immigrant, do I go claim my SNAP benefits? Do I call the police for domestic violence issues? Do I go to the doctor when I am injured or sick? Will any of those things put my family at risk of detention or deportation?
It sounds like there are a lot of nuances in this research. How does that relate back to the U.S. economy?
Mansour: The economy is not a zero-sum game, and there is little evidence from our or other studies that undocumented immigrants reduce the employment or wages of U.S. citizens. In fact, our findings indicate that undocumented immigrants enable businesses to expand more than they would be able to otherwise. This, in turn, improves the labor market outcomes of U.S. citizen workers by increasing the demand for their labor.
East: And because the economy is interconnected, it may actually be beneficial to get migrants into the labor market faster, so they are able to stimulate the economy and not have to rely on the safety net or charity.
So, this research helps clarify the impact of migrants in the labor market, correct?
Mansour: Yes. The claim for the need to increase enforcement can’t be that migrants are harming the labor market. If anything, if the goal is to stimulate the economy, we should have more migrants, not less.
East: We’ve been able to see that play out over the last few years in the U.S. labor market. When migration fell significantly during the pandemic, we also saw big drops in employment. Occupations traditionally dominated by foreign-born workers were the exact same occupations that claimed to have labor shortages.
The other thing I think we also have to be very clear about is that many of these enforcement policies were put in place to decrease crime and increase public safety. But, based on evidence from other scholars, there is little evidence that these enforcement policies decreased crime. In fact, they led to a decrease in reporting of crime because of the increased fear to interact with local police.
What are you hoping will come from being able to bring this information to light?
East: Just like our research isn’t done in a vacuum, these immigration policies don’t work in a vacuum either. The hope is that the reasoning behind policies will be based on data and facts.
There are lots of questions swirling at the local level because of the sudden increase in migration to Colorado. How do you talk about these ideas with your kids?
Velásquez: While this wasn’t the focus of our research, we are talking about it with each other and our families. My kids are in a bilingual school receiving many of the Venezuelan families. And we talk about it because I am also an immigrant. With our study, we focus on economics and labor outcomes, but I want my kids to understand that we benefit from diversity and that many people have different types of occupations with valuable skills, and we can all benefit from each other. Everyone deserves respect and an environment where they feel safe. We can all help in the growth of the country.
Any final thoughts?
Mansour: Whenever immigration issues are brought up in the news, it is almost always about public safety, concerns about immigrants taking jobs, and the costs to the community. But, according to our study, the most immediate policy prescription is that we should look at advocating for work authorization as a way to reduce the fiscal burden on the cities.
East: The volatility of immigration policy and the political climate affects how people make decisions, it makes them feel less safe, and less likely to invest in their future through education, buying a house, getting a better job. … And uncertainty doesn’t help the economy.
The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.