Fear and the Safety Net: Evidence from Secure Communities

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Alsan, Marcella; Yang, Crystal S.
• 署名单位: Harvard University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01250
• 发表日期: 2024-11
• 页码: 1427-1441
• 关键词: immigration enforcement; welfare; PARTICIPATION; networks; REFORM; crime

摘要

We study the effects of Secure Communities, an immigration enforcement program that dramatically increased interior removals of Hispanic noncitizens from the United States, on participation in means-tested social insurance programs among co-ethnic citizens. Exploiting county-level variation in the roll-out of enforcement together with its ethnic specificity, we find that Hispanic-headed citizen households significantly reduced their participation in two large federal safety net programs. Our results are most consistent with network effects that propagate fear through minority communities rather than stigma or lack of benefit information.