Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/202759 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12413
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper analyzes the impact of immigrant deportations on local crime and police efficiency. Our identification relies on increases in the deportation rate driven by the introduction of the Secure Communities (SC) program, an immigration enforcement program based on local-federal cooperation which was rolled out across counties between 2008 and 2013. We instrument for the deportation rate by interacting the introduction of SC with the local presence of likely undocumented in 2005, prior to the introduction of SC. We document a surge in local deportation rates under SC, and we show that deportations increased the most in counties with a large undocumented population. We find that SC-driven increases in deportation rates did not reduce crime rates for violent offenses or property offenses. Our estimates are small and precise, so we can rule out meaningful effects. We do not find evidence that SC increased either police effectiveness in solving crimes or local police resources. Finally, we do not find effects of deportations on the local employment of unskilled citizens or on local firm creation.
Subjects: 
immigrants
deportation
crime
police effectiveness
secure communities
JEL: 
K24
K37
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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