Conditional Welcome
Geo-Political Rivalry and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment: A Conjoint Experiment in 22 Countries
Andreas Wimmer et al.
American Political Science Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
Introducing an international relations perspective into the literature on anti-immigrant attitudes, we hypothesize that immigrants from rival countries will be shunned and immigrants from allied countries preferred, especially by respondents who identify more strongly with the nation. We fielded a forced-choice conjoint experiment in 22 countries, whereby respondents chose between applicants for permanent resident status with randomized attributes. We identified rival and allied countries of origin for each surveyed country, with one such pair sharing a similar racial and cultural make-up as the majority of respondents, and one pair being more dissimilar. We find that discrimination against immigrants from rival states is so pronounced that it results in a net preference for racially and culturally dissimilar immigrants. Since we fielded the surveys amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are able to leverage exogenous changes in the intensity of one rivalry, providing further evidence for the proposed mechanism.
Migrant exposure and anti-migrant sentiment: The case of the Venezuelan exodus
Jeremy Lebow et al.
Journal of Public Economics, August 2024
Abstract:
The global increase in refugee flows and anti-migrant politics has made it increasingly urgent to understand when and how migration translates into anti-migrant sentiment. We study the mass exodus of Venezuelans across Latin America, which coincided with an unprecedented worsening in migrant sentiment in the countries that received the most Venezuelans. However, we find no evidence that this decrease occurred in the regions within-country that received the most migrants. We do this using multiple migrant sentiment outcomes including survey measures and social media posts, multiple levels of geographic variation across seven Latin American countries, and an instrumental variable strategy. We find little evidence for heterogeneity along a range of characteristics related to labor market competition, public good scarcity, or crime. The results are consistent with anti-migrant sentiment being a national-level phenomenon, divorced from local experiences with migrants.
The Intergenerational Effects of Permanent Legal Status
Elizabeth Cascio, Paul Cornell & Ethan Lewis
NBER Working Paper, June 2024
Abstract:
We estimate the effects of permanent legal status on the health of children born to immigrants in the United States using variation from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). Our empirical approach compares trends in birth outcomes for foreign-born Mexican mothers across counties with different application rates under IRCA's large-scale legalization programs. Maternal legalization raised birthweight. Effects arose immediately after the application process began -- five years before affected women became Medicaid-eligible -- suggesting causal mechanisms besides improved access to early prenatal care. Changes in the composition of births, stemming from changes in fertility and family reunification, contribute to but far from fully explain the birthweight impacts. The more likely mechanisms were instead the increases in family income and reductions in stress that came from gaining legal status.
Immigrant legalization and the redistribution of state funds: Evidence from the 1986 IRCA
Navid Sabet & Christoph Winter
Journal of Public Economics, August 2024
Abstract:
We study the impact of immigrant legalization on fiscal transfers from state to local governments in the United States, exploiting variation in legal status from the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). State governments allocate more resources to IRCA counties, an allocation that is responsive to the electoral incentives of the governor. Importantly, the effect emerges prior to the enfranchisement of the IRCA migrants and we argue it is driven by the IRCA's capacity to politically empower already legal Hispanic migrants in mixed legal status communities. The IRCA increases turnout in large Hispanic communities as well as Hispanic political engagement, without detectably triggering anti-migrant sentiment.
Institutional discrimination and assimilation: Evidence from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Shuo Chen & Bin Xie
Explorations in Economic History, October 2024
Abstract:
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 marked a pivotal moment in U.S. immigration policy, effectively prohibiting Chinese immigration while institutionalizing discrimination against Asians within American society. This study investigates the repercussions of such institutional discrimination on the assimilation process of Asian immigrants, leveraging the timing of the enactment of the Act and the regional variation in the intensity of discrimination. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that discrimination posed significant obstacles to the labor market integration of Asian immigrants during the Exclusion Era (1882-1943), and Asian immigrants responded to discriminatory practices by investing in human capital, enhancing English proficiency, and adopting Americanized names. Furthermore, the triple-difference estimates reveal that these effects are more pronounced in regions characterized by heightened discrimination against Asians.
Does Early Elementary Dual Language Instruction Deliver as Promised?
Natalia Palacios et al.
AERA Open, July 2024
Abstract:
Utilizing Utah state data, the aim of this study is to examine the association between language program types (dual language programs [DLI], sheltered instruction [SEI], and English as a second language [ESL]) since first grade and third-grade basic literacy skills of Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) in the United States. We employ propensity score matching (PSM) to generate matched samples using child and family factors known to be associated with children's early literacy: child sex, immigrant status, unhoused status, special education status, child met Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) benchmark at start of first grade, as well as family income and parental language (DLI & ESL, n = 380; DLI & SEI, n = 380; SEI & ESL, n = 550). Regression models comparing early literacy outcomes for each matched group indicate small trends, based on effect sizes, in favor of DLI programs when compared to other program types, although differences were not statistically significant. Implications for policy and practice related bilingual education are addressed.
The social behavior of immigrants during natural disasters: Lessons from the United States
Veeshan Rayamajhee & Jayash Paudel
Journal of Comparative Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Natural disasters can disrupt our social fabric and increase political polarization by differentially impacting different subpopulations and exacerbating existing inequities. In this paper, we examine the effects of natural disasters on the divergence of social behavior between immigrants and natives in the United States. First, using individual-level time diary data from 2003-2021, we document that first generation immigrants socialize less, volunteer less, and spend more time in religious activities relative to their native counterparts. Second, we make use of temporal and spatial variation in disaster-induced fatalities to examine the relationship between major disasters and time allocation for different social behavioral outcomes. We find that major disasters affect the social lives of both immigrants and natives, but the effects are significantly more pronounced for immigrants. Finally, we show that immigrants respond to disasters by making significant adjustments in their labor market participation both on the intensive and extensive margins, whereas the effects are milder for natives. Our results further suggest that immigrants face higher levels of barriers to out-migrate following a disaster compared to native counterparts, resulting in disruption of social networks.