Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/215117 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12721
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
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.
Subjects: 
immigration enforcement
trust acts
domestic violence
United States
JEL: 
J12
J16
J15
K37
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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