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Title: Sanctuary Cities: The Social and Economic Implications
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2022
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Abstract: Sanctuary cities, enacted by local governments, are jurisdictions that limit cooperation with the U.S. federal government in the enforcement of immigration policies and, as a result, often carry the connotation of “paradise for illegal immigrants.” Over the past decade, a large number of counties in the U.S. have adopted the sanctuary city status. This immigrant-friendly policy has received much attention with polarized opinions. Major concerns about the policy include the potential impact on the labor market, sanctuaries becoming a magnet attracting illegal immigrants, and the potential budget burden of increasing public benefit expenditure. Despite the tremendous concerns and attention from the public, there is little research on the topic. This dissertation aims to bridge this knowledge gap and investigate sanctuary cities’ social and economic implications. The first essay of this dissertation examines whether native workers in sanctuary cities would experience a decrease in wages. Using the information on sanctuary city adoption status and individual-level data, a difference-in-difference (DID) model is employed to estimate the sanctuary status impact on the wages of natives. After controlling for demographic, economic, political, and industry factors, no statistically significant impact was found. The finding is consistent in a series of robustness tests, suggesting sanctuary status has no detrimental effects on native workers’ wages. This result prompts a further research question about the potential reason. The second essay addresses a more fundamental question about sanctuary cities that underlies much of the controversy and concern associated with sanctuary cities: are sanctuary cities attracting illegal immigrants? The impact of the policy on the labor market and other major socioeconomic variables hinges on the answer to this critical question. This essay tests the effect of sanctuary city status on the net inflow of likely undocumented immigrants (LUIs) defined in the literature. The study finds no significant effects, suggesting undocumented immigrants are in fact not gravitating toward sanctuary cities. Further examination shows that this coincides with the lack of significant differences in LUI detentions between sanctuaries and non-sanctuaries. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for public benefits, but their children born in America (U.S. citizens) are. So sanctuary cities might suffer a budgetary burden. The third essay analyzes whether these mixed-status families in sanctuary cities are more likely to obtain public benefits for their children. The results show that sanctuary city status does not increase the probability of mixed-status families receiving public benefits, except Medicaid. Many of the findings in the dissertation are contrary to a priori expectations and have important policy implications.
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Authors: Caro, Ariel Soto
Institution: University of Florida
Department: Food and Resource Economics
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Pages: 1-118
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Land Use/Urban Organization
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