IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pubeco/v190y2020ics0047272720301067.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?

Author

Listed:
  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina
  • Arenas-Arroyo, Esther
  • Wang, Chunbei

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Wang, Chunbei, 2020. "Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:190:y:2020:i:c:s0047272720301067
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104242
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272720301067
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104242?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miao Chi, 2015. "Does intermarriage promote economic assimilation among immigrants in the United States?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(7), pages 1034-1057, October.
    2. Delia Furtado, 2009. "Cross-nativity marriages and human capital levels of children," Research in Labor Economics, in: Ethnicity and Labor Market Outcomes, pages 273-296, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Eva Dziadula, 2020. "Marriage and Citizenship Among U.S. Immigrants: Who Marries Whom and Who Becomes a Citizen?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 34-52, January.
    4. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Fernando A. Lozano, 2019. "Interstate Mobility Patterns of Likely Unauthorized Immigrants: Evidence from Arizona," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 109-120, June.
    5. Sarah Bohn & Magnus Lofstrom & Steven Raphael, 2014. "Did the 2007 Legal Arizona Workers Act Reduce the State's Unauthorized Immigrant Population?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(2), pages 258-269, May.
    6. Barry Chiswick & Christina Houseworth, 2011. "Ethnic intermarriage among immigrants: human capital and assortative mating," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 149-180, June.
    7. Jonathan Meer & Jeremy West, 2016. "Effects of the Minimum Wage on Employment Dynamics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(2), pages 500-522.
    8. Chunbei Wang & Le Wang, 2012. "The effects of 9/11 on intermarriage between natives and immigrants to the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 171-192, June.
    9. Furtado Delia & Theodoropoulos Nikolaos, 2010. "Why Does Intermarriage Increase Immigrant Employment? The Role of Networks," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-33, November.
    10. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Cynthia Bansak, 2012. "The Labor Market Impact of Mandated Employment Verification Systems," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 543-548, May.
    11. Michael A. Clemens & Ethan G. Lewis & Hannah M. Postel, 2018. "Immigration Restrictions as Active Labor Market Policy: Evidence from the Mexican Bracero Exclusion," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(6), pages 1468-1487, June.
    12. Borjas, George J., 2017. "The labor supply of undocumented immigrants," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-13.
    13. Delia Furtado & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2009. "I'll marry you if you get me a job," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1/2), pages 116-126, March.
    14. Neeraj Kaushal & Robert Kaestner & Cordelia Reimers, 2007. "Labor Market Effects of September 11th on Arab and Muslim Residents of the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(2).
    15. Grossbard-Shechtman, Amyra, 1983. "A market approach to intermarriage," MPRA Paper 81195, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Cynthia Bansak, 2014. "Employment Verification Mandates And The Labor Market Outcomes Of Likely Unauthorized And Native Workers," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(3), pages 671-680, July.
    17. Matthijs Kalmijn & Frank Tubergen, 2010. "A comparative perspective on intermarriage: Explaining differences among national-origin groups in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(2), pages 459-479, May.
    18. Andrew Goodman-Bacon, 2018. "Public Insurance and Mortality: Evidence from Medicaid Implementation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(1), pages 216-262.
    19. Delia Furtado, 2012. "Human Capital And Interethnic Marriage Decisions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 82-93, January.
    20. Michael Good, 2013. "Do immigrant outflows lead to native inflows? An empirical analysis of the migratory responses to US state immigration legislation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(30), pages 4275-4297, October.
    21. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Esther Arenas-Arroyo, 2018. "Split Families and the Future of Children: Immigration Enforcement and Foster Care Placements," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 368-372, May.
    22. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Sevilla, Almudena, 2018. "Immigration enforcement and economic resources of children with likely unauthorized parents," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 63-78.
    23. Mark Hoekstra & Sandra Orozco-Aleman, 2017. "Illegal Immigration, State Law, and Deterrence," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 228-252, May.
    24. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2009. "The effects of tougher enforcement on the job prospects of recent Latin American immigrants," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 239-257.
    25. Tara Watson, 2013. "Enforcement and Immigrant Location Choice," NBER Working Papers 19626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Davide Azzolini & Raffaele Guetto, 2017. "The impact of citizenship on intermarriage: Quasi-experimental evidence from two European Union Eastern enlargements," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(43), pages 1299-1336.
    27. Nadja Milewski & Hill Kulu, 2014. "Mixed Marriages in Germany: A High Risk of Divorce for Immigrant-Native Couples," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(1), pages 89-113, February.
    28. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Mary J. Lopez, 2015. "Falling through the Cracks? Grade Retention and School Dropout among Children of Likely Unauthorized Immigrants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 598-603, May.
    29. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Esther Arenas‐Arroyo, 2019. "Immigration Enforcement and Children's Living Arrangements," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(1), pages 11-40, January.
    30. Xin Meng & Dominique Meurs, 2009. "Intermarriage, language, and economic assimilation process," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1/2), pages 127-144, March.
    31. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2014. "On the Intended and Unintended Consequences of Enhanced U.S. Border and Interior Immigration Enforcement: Evidence From Mexican Deportees," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2255-2279, December.
    32. Bohn, Sarah & Lofstrom, Magnus & Raphael, Steven, 2015. "Do E-Verify Mandates Improve Labor Market Outcomes of Low-Skilled Native and Legal Immigrant Workers?," IZA Discussion Papers 9420, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    33. David Neumark & J. M. Ian Salas & William Wascher, 2014. "Revisiting the Minimum Wage—Employment Debate: Throwing Out the Baby with the Bathwater?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(3_suppl), pages 608-648, May.
    34. Xin Meng & Robert G. Gregory, 2005. "Intermarriage and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 135-176, January.
    35. Miao Chi, 2017. "Improved legal status as the major source of earnings premiums associated with intermarriage: evidence from the 1986 IRCA amnesty," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 691-706, June.
    36. Chunbei Wang, 2019. "Tightened Immigration Policies and the Self‐Employment Dynamics of Mexican Immigrants," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(4), pages 944-977, September.
    37. Delia Furtado & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2011. "Interethnic marriage: a choice between ethnic and educational similarities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(4), pages 1257-1279, October.
    38. Bernt Bratsberg & James F. Ragan & Zafar M. Nasir, 2002. "The Effect of Naturalization on Wage Growth: A Panel Study of Young Male Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(3), pages 568-597, July.
    39. Furtado, Delia & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos, 2009. "I'll Marry You If You Get Me a Job: Marital Assimilation and Immigrant Employment Rates," IZA Discussion Papers 3951, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    40. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo & Thitima Puttitanun, 2015. "Immigration Enforcement, Parent–Child Separations, and Intent to Remigrate by Central American Deportees," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(6), pages 1825-1851, December.
    41. Claudia Smith Kelly, 2010. "The Influence of a Change in Immigration Law on US Marriage Rates," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 500-522.
    42. Chiswick, Barry R. & DebBurman, Noyna, 2004. "Educational attainment: analysis by immigrant generation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 361-379, August.
    43. Eva Dziadula, 2018. "Timing of Naturalization Among US Immigrants," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 791-811, August.
    44. Giuntella, Osea, 2014. "Intermarriage and the Unhealthy Assimilation of Immigrant Descendants," IZA Discussion Papers 8481, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    45. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroy, Esther, 2017. "Immigrant Fertility in the Midst of Intensified Enforcement," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    46. repec:wly:soecon:v:81:4:y:2015:p:960-979 is not listed on IDEAS
    47. Basu Sukanya & Insler Michael, 2017. "Education Outcomes of Children of Asian Intermarriages: Does Gender of the Immigrant Parent Matter?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, February.
    48. Grossbard, Shoshana Amyra & Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2014. "Racial Intermarriage and Household Production," Review of Behavioral Economics, now publishers, vol. 1(4), pages 295-347, December.
    49. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny & Emily Gutierrez, 2018. "Do State Employment Eligibility Verification Laws Affect Job Turnover?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(2), pages 394-409, April.
    50. Olga Nottmeyer, 2014. "Relative labor supply in intermarriage," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-27, December.
    51. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Mary J. Lopez, 2017. "The Hidden Educational Costs of Intensified Immigration Enforcement," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(1), pages 120-154, July.
    52. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Pozo, Susan, 2014. "On the Intended and Unintended Consequences of Enhanced Border and Interior Immigration Enforcement: Evidence from Deportees," IZA Discussion Papers 8458, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    53. East, Chloe N. & Luck, Philip & Mansour, Hani & Velasquez, Andrea, 2018. "The Labor Market Effects of Immigration Enforcement," IZA Discussion Papers 11486, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    54. Matthew Freedman & Emily Owens & Sarah Bohn, 2018. "Immigration, Employment Opportunities, and Criminal Behavior," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 117-151, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luca Pieroni & Melcior Rosselló Roig & Luca Salmasi & Gilberto Turati, 2023. "Legal status and voluntary abortions by immigrants," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def126, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    2. Gihleb, Rania & Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub, 2023. "Dreaming of leaving the nest? Immigration status and the living arrangements of DACAmented," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Cynthia Bansak & Sarah Pearlman, 2022. "Marriage and immigration enforcement: The impact of Secure Communities on immigrant women," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 351-372, January.
    4. Rania Gihleb & Osea Giuntella & Jakub Lonsky, 2022. "Dreaming of Leaving the Nest? Immigration Status and the Living Arrangements of DACAmented," Working Papers 202202, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    5. Bansak, Cynthia & Dziadula, Eva & Zavodny, Madeline, 2023. "The value of a green card in the U.S. marriage market: A tale of chain migration?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    6. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Magnus Lofstrom & Chunbei Wang, 2022. "Immigration Policy and the Rise of Self-Employment among Mexican Immigrants," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(5), pages 1189-1214, October.
    7. Eva Dziadula, 2022. "Match quality and divorce among naturalized U.S. citizens," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(1), pages 37-61, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cynthia Bansak & Sarah Pearlman, 2022. "Marriage and immigration enforcement: The impact of Secure Communities on immigrant women," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 351-372, January.
    2. Chunbei Wang & Le Wang, 2012. "The effects of 9/11 on intermarriage between natives and immigrants to the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 171-192, June.
    3. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther, 2021. "Immigration policy and fertility: Evidence from undocumented migrants in the U.S," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 274-297.
    4. Bansak, Cynthia & Dziadula, Eva & Zavodny, Madeline, 2023. "The value of a green card in the U.S. marriage market: A tale of chain migration?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Chunbei Wang & Magnus Lofstrom, 2020. "September 11 and the Rise of Necessity Self-Employment Among Mexican Immigrants," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 5-33, January.
    6. Eva Dziadula, 2022. "Match quality and divorce among naturalized U.S. citizens," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(1), pages 37-61, July.
    7. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Mary Lopez, 2021. "Recent changes in immigration policy and U.S. naturalization patterns," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 843-872, September.
    8. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Magnus Lofstrom & Chunbei Wang, 2022. "Immigration Policy and the Rise of Self-Employment among Mexican Immigrants," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(5), pages 1189-1214, October.
    9. Delia Furtado & Stephen J. Trejo, 2013. "Interethnic marriages and their economic effects," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 15, pages 276-292, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Brandyn F. Churchill & Andrew Dickinson & Taylor Mackay & Joseph J. Sabia, 2022. "The Effect of E-Verify Laws on Crime," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(5), pages 1294-1320, October.
    11. Eva Dziadula, 2020. "Marriage and Citizenship Among U.S. Immigrants: Who Marries Whom and Who Becomes a Citizen?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 34-52, January.
    12. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Fernando A. Lozano, 2019. "Interstate Mobility Patterns of Likely Unauthorized Immigrants: Evidence from Arizona," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 109-120, June.
    13. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther, 2020. "U.S. Immigration Policy and Immigrant Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 13748, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Juan Manuel Pedroza, 2022. "Housing Instability in an Era of Mass Deportations," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2645-2681, December.
    15. Shalise Ayromloo & Benjamin Feigenberg & Darren Lubotsky, 2020. "States Taking the Reins? Employment Verification Requirements and Local Labor Market Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 26676, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Miao Chi, 2017. "Improved legal status as the major source of earnings premiums associated with intermarriage: evidence from the 1986 IRCA amnesty," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 691-706, June.
    17. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Bucheli, Jose R., 2020. "Immigration Policy and Hispanics' Willingness to Run for Office," IZA Discussion Papers 13698, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Mary J. Lopez, 2017. "Interior Immigration Enforcement and Political Participation of U.S. Citizens in Mixed-Status Households," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2223-2247, December.
    19. Jácome, Elisa, 2022. "The effect of immigration enforcement on crime reporting: Evidence from Dallas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    20. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2022. "Does immigration enforcement affect where less‐educated US natives and Hispanic immigrants live?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 1432-1451, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration enforcement; Undocumented immigrants; Mexican; Family structure; Intermarriage; United States;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K37 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Immigration Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:190:y:2020:i:c:s0047272720301067. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505578 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.