How Immigration Enforcement Disrupts Education

Between 2014 and 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted over half a million arrests throughout the interior of the US. While these enforcement actions target unauthorized immigrants, our study reveals they create ripple effects that extend far beyond their immediate targets, disrupting educational outcomes for Hispanic youth regardless of citizenship status.

Using data from the Current Population Survey and ICE arrest records, we examined how immigration enforcement impacted school enrollment among Hispanic youth. The findings reveal significant educational disruptions. When ICE arrests increase unexpectedly in a metropolitan area, school enrollment among Hispanic youth declines substantially. A one standard deviation increase in the arrest rate is associated with a 1.6 percentage point decrease in enrollment for the overall Hispanic youth population.

The impact varies considerably by age group. Among younger Hispanics aged 16 to 18 years, the effect is approximately 1 percent relative to their baseline enrollment rate. However, for those aged 19 to 24 years, the impact more than doubles, with enrollment dropping by 2.4 percentage points, representing a 5.3 percent decline relative to their baseline.

The effects are not uniform across all Hispanic youth. Foreign-born individuals experience nearly twice the impact compared to their US-born counterparts. Additionally, US-born Hispanic youth living in mixed-status families, where at least one family member is foreign-born, show similar enrollment declines. This pattern demonstrates how enforcement actions create fear and uncertainty that permeates entire communities. Perhaps most striking, we find evidence of gender disparities in these effects, with Hispanic women experiencing disproportionately larger declines in enrollment compared to Hispanic men.

My Takeaways

Our findings come from a period predating some of the most aggressive immigration enforcement actions of recent years. However, this study, along with many others, suggests that the current environment poses even greater challenges. With continued emphasis on aggressive interior enforcement and deportation, the educational disruption documented in our research will intensify. This is the reality currently being played out in major metropolitan areas across California, Illinois, and North Carolina.

It is important to highlight that the consequences of aggressive interior immigration enforcement extend well beyond immediate enrollment decisions. Educational attainment shapes lifetime earnings, employment opportunities, and broader economic mobility for US-born and immigrant children alike.

Addressing these challenges requires policy approaches that account for the broader community impacts of enforcement actions, especially the targeting of spaces once considered sanctuary (e.g., schools, churches, hospitals). It also demands consideration of how current enforcement strategies may undermine other policy goals, including educational equity and economic opportunity for all residents.

Bucheli J., Rubalcaba J., and Vargas E. "Out of the Class and Into the Shadows: Immigration Enforcement and Education Among U.S.-Citizen and Foreign-Born Hispanics," AERA Open.