Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?

Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, Esther Arenas-Arroyo and Chunbei Wang
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Esther Arenas-Arroyo

Journal of Public Economics, 2020, vol. 190, issue C

Abstract: This paper identifies intermarriage (between non-citizens and citizens) as an important response mechanism to intensified immigration enforcement, particularly among Mexican non-citizens. Exploiting the temporal and geographic variation in the implementation of interior immigration enforcement from 2005 to 2017, we find that a one standard deviation increase in enforcement raises Mexican non-citizens' likelihood of marrying a U.S. citizen by 3 to 7%. Both police-based and employment-based enforcement contribute to this impact. The analysis adds to a growing literature examining how immigrants respond to tightened enforcement and, importantly, sheds light on the recent growth of intermarriage among Mexican immigrants.

Keywords: Immigration enforcement; Undocumented immigrants; Mexican; Family structure; Intermarriage; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J15 K37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Is Immigration Enforcement Shaping Immigrant Marriage Patterns? (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:190:y:2020:i:c:s0047272720301067

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104242

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