Police Trust and Domestic Violence: Evidence from Immigration Policies

Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes and Esther Arenas-Arroyo ()
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Esther Arenas-Arroyo: Vienna University of Economics and Business
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Esther Arenas-Arroyo

No 12721, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Domestic violence is a serious under-reported crime in the United States, especially among immigrant women. While the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) allows battered immigrants to petition for legal status without relying on abusive U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident spouses, we find that intensified interior immigration enforcement has curbed the VAWA self-petition rate. In contrast, sanctuary policies limiting the cooperation of police with immigration authorities have helped counteract that impact. The results, which prove robust to alternative measures of the policies, support the hypothesized changes in victims' reporting in response to the policies. Understanding survivors' responses to immigration policy is crucial given growing police mistrust and vulnerability to crime among immigrants.

Keywords: domestic violence; trust acts; immigration enforcement; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J15 J16 K37 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 51 pages
Date: 2019-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law, nep-ltv, nep-mig, nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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Published - published as 'Police trust and domestic violence among immigrants: evidence from VAWA self-petitions' in: Journal of Economic Geography, 2022, 22 (2), 395 - 422

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