Fear and the Safety Net: Evidence from Secure Communities

Abstract

This paper studies how changes in deportation fear induced by the roll-out of Secure Communities (SC), a far-reaching immigration enforcement program, affected the demand for safety net programs in the United States. We estimate the spillover effect of SC on the take-up of federal means-tested programs by Hispanic citizens, who are not themselves eligible for removal. We find significant declines in SNAP and SSI enrollment, particularly among mixed-citizenship status households. The response is muted for Hispanic households residing in sanctuary cities. Our results are most consistent with network effects that perpetuate fear rather than lack of benefit information, measurement error, or stigma.

Vanished Classmates: The Effects of Local Immigration Enforcement on School Enrollment

“…9 Other recent literature identifies spillover effects from increased immigration enforcement on programmatic take-up for citizen Hispanic populations (Alsan & Yang, 2019).…”

Immigration Enforcement and Student Achievement in the Wake of Secure Communities

“…This negative income shock spills over to create housing and childcare instability (Dreby, 2012(Dreby, , 2015Rugh & Hall, 2016). However, families with unauthorized members not experiencing a detention or removal may also experience a decrease in resources if members reduce employment (Amuedo-Dorantes, Arenas-Arroyo, & Sevilla, 2018;East, Luck, Mansour, & Velasquez, 2018) or their interaction with social service agencies (Alsan & Yang, 2018;Potochnick, Chen, & Perreira, 2016;Vargas, 2015;Vargas & Pirog, 2016;Watson, 2014). Recent work finds that Secure Communities decreased Hispanic families' participation with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Affordable Care Act, as well as reduced employment for noncitizen men with lower levels of education (Alsan & Yang, 2018;East et al, 2018).…”

“…Several studies have used the rollout of Secure Communities to examine its effects on crime, public benefit receipt, and employment (Alsan & Yang, 2018;Cox & Miles, 2013;East et al, 2018). Although the activation of Secure Communities had no relationship with crime patterns (Cox & Miles, 2013), it decreased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Affordable Care Act receipt for households with Hispanic heads (Alsan & Yang, 2018) and decreased employment for noncitizen men, particularly low-skilled noncitizen men, as well as some citizen men (East et al, 2018).…”

How Partisan Is Local Law Enforcement? Evidence from Sheriff Cooperation with Immigration Authorities

“…In 2013, all law enforcement agencies not yet enrolled were automatically made participants. In 2015, the Obama administration replaced Secure Communities with the Priority Enforcement Program through which the FBI continued to share fingerprint data with the DHS, but ICE was instructed to only pursue national security threats and individuals convicted of committed a serious crime (Alsan and Yang 2018). The Trump administration reactivated Secure Communities in 2017.…”