Presidential Address: “A Thousand Petty Fortresses”: Administrative Burden in U.S. Immigration Policies and Its Consequences

Abstract

Contradictory elements in U.S. immigration policy, reflecting a long‐time struggle between inclusionary and exclusionary views, have resulted in federal legislation filled with compromises and tradeoffs that, at state and sub‐state levels, play out in unclear interpretations and uneven, highly discretionary administration and enforcement of immigration law and policy. This research describes a tool of discretionary administration—administrative burden—that is increasingly used in enforcing immigration law and policies at state and sub‐state levels and presents a theoretical frame for more fully investigating and addressing its consequences. The application and implications of administrative burden are explored empirically and qualitatively in a case study analysis of an enforcement‐oriented policy change in Texas that denied access to birth certificates for some citizen‐children born to Mexican immigrants. To better understand the potential consequences of this and related policies, interviews with immigrant parents and longitudinal data from a survey of children of immigrants are analyzed to assess both short‐term and later outcomes of children who are denied economic assistance and other benefits under policies that impose barriers to their integration into society. The study findings point to serious, adverse consequences for citizen children of state and sub‐state immigration policies that create administrative burden and perpetuate racial discrimination, while simultaneously diminishing the transparency, fairness, and effectiveness of public administration.

Child poverty across immigrant generations in the United States, 1993–2016: Evidence using the official and supplemental poverty measures

“…We expect these and related processes to produce distinct intergenerational patterns of poverty among children. We also examine historical dynamics in child poverty, which is merited given the possibility that inter-generational inequalities have changed over time with growing ethno-racial diversity, shifts in the socioeconomic characteristics and geographic distribution of immigration populations, and changes to the policy environment (Heinrich 2018;Lichter, Sanders, and Johnson 2015;Mattingly and Pedroza 2018). Finally, accounting for these patterns is important given their longer-term implications, as childhood exposure to poverty has negative effects over the life course (Duncan, Ziol-Guest, and Kalil 2010;Hayward and Gorman 2004).…”

Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen‐State Interactions

“…Administrative burdens—and the related concept of “sludge”—deserve attention for a number of reasons (Herd and Moynihan ; Sunstein ; Thaler ). First, they can have significant effects on citizen outcomes, such as whether individuals can access the benefits they need and the rights they are entitled to (e.g., Heinrich ) or whether they engage in civic and electoral participation (Bruch, Ferree, and Soss ). Linos and Riesch () even find that administrative burdens in recruitment processes affect people's access to public sector jobs.…”

Locked Out of the Labor Market? State-Level Hidden Sentences and the Labor Market Outcomes of Recently Incarcerated Young Adults

“…The result is a system of barriers that often cause avoidance, noncompliance, or participation in ways that are not predicted by a straightforward reading of the policies themselves. Research on the welfare state and economic regulation shows that the administrative burden of a particular policy regime can have negative impacts on participation in educational applications and financial aid (Hoxby and Turner 2015), immigration and nationalization (Heinrich 2018), voting and voter registration (Burden et al 2014), medical insurance (Moynihan, Herd, and Ribgy 2016), and other social and economic activities.…”