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Can We Measure Immigrants' Legal Status? Lessons from Two U.S. Surveys

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  • James D. Bachmeier
  • Jennifer Van Hook
  • Frank D. Bean

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="imre12059-abs-0001"> This research note examines response and allocation rates for legal status questions asked in publicly available U.S. surveys to address worries that the legal status of immigrants cannot be reliably measured. Contrary to such notions, we find that immigrants' non-response rates to questions about legal status are typically not higher than non-response rates to other immigration-related questions, such as country of birth and year of immigration. Further exploration of two particular surveys – the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (LAFANS) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) – reveals that these data sources produce profiles of the unauthorized immigrant population that compare favorably to independently estimated profiles. We also find in the case of the SIPP that the introduction of legal status questions does not appear to have an appreciable “chilling effect” on the subsequent survey participation of unauthorized immigrant respondents. Based on the results, we conclude that future data collection efforts should include questions about legal status to (1) improve models of immigrant incorporation; and (2) better position assimilation research to inform policy discussions.

Suggested Citation

  • James D. Bachmeier & Jennifer Van Hook & Frank D. Bean, 2014. "Can We Measure Immigrants' Legal Status? Lessons from Two U.S. Surveys," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 538-566, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:intmig:v:48:y:2014:i:2:p:538-566
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/imre.2014.48.issue-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Xintong Liu & Yang Song, 2020. "Comparing the Ethnicity Proxy and Residual Method: Applications to the State-level DREAM Acts and DACA," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 82-101, January.
    2. Barajas, Jesus M., 2021. "The effects of driver licensing laws on immigrant travel," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 22-34.
    3. R. S. Oropesa & Nancy S. Landale & Marianne M. Hillemeier, 2016. "Legal Status and Health Care: Mexican-Origin Children in California, 2001–2014," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(5), pages 651-684, October.
    4. Claire E. Altman & Colleen M. Heflin & Chaegyung Jun & James D. Bachmeier, 2021. "Material Hardship Among Immigrants in the United States: Variation by Citizenship, Legal Status, and Origin in the 1996–2008 SIPP," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 363-399, June.
    5. Joseph-Simon Görlach, 2023. "Borrowing Constraints and the Dynamics of Return and Repeat Migration," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 205-243.
    6. Ruhnke, Simon A. & Reynolds, Megan M. & Wilson, Fernando A. & Stimpson, Jim P., 2022. "A healthy migrant effect? Estimating health outcomes of the undocumented immigrant population in the United States using machine learning," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    7. Erin R. Hamilton & Jo Mhairi Hale & Robin Savinar, 2019. "Immigrant Legal Status and Health: Legal Status Disparities in Chronic Conditions and Musculoskeletal Pain Among Mexican-Born Farm Workers in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 1-24, February.
    8. Christal Hamilton & Claire Altman & James Bachmeier & Cody Spence, 2022. "Legal status and health disparities: An examination of health insurance coverage among the foreign-born," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(16), pages 453-488.
    9. Diaz-Strong, Daysi X. & Ybarra, Marci A., 2016. "Disparities in high school completion among Latinos: The role of the age-at-arrival and immigration status," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 282-289.
    10. Kendal Lowrey & Jennifer Hook, 2022. "Standing on Their Own Two Feet: How the New Public Charge Rules Could Impact Non-European LPR Applicants," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 559-582, April.
    11. Bernhardt, Robert & Wunnava, Phanindra V., 2020. "The CPS Citizenship Question and Survey Refusals: Causal and Semi-Causal Evidence Featuring a Two-Stage Regression Discontinuity Design," IZA Discussion Papers 13350, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Annie Ro & Jennifer Hook, 2022. "Comparing the Effectiveness of Assignment Strategies for Estimating Likely Undocumented Status in Secondary Data Sources for Latino and Asian Immigrants," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 449-464, April.
    13. Padilla, Tatiana & Reyes, Adriana, 2024. "Hitting closer to home: State policies’ impacts on health by race and legal status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    14. Jeehye Kang & Ingrid P. Whitaker, 2022. "Mexican-Origin Children's Educational Expectations and Academic Performance: Disparities Across Maternal Legal Status and Children’s Immigrant Generation," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 1191-1216, June.
    15. Randy Capps & James D. Bachmeier & Jennifer Van Hook, 2018. "Estimating the Characteristics of Unauthorized Immigrants Using U.S. Census Data: Combined Sample Multiple Imputation," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 677(1), pages 165-179, May.
    16. Oropesa, R.S. & Landale, Nancy S. & Hillemeier, Marianne M., 2015. "Family legal status and health: Measurement dilemmas in studies of Mexican-origin children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 57-67.
    17. Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2017. "Unauthorized Mexican Workers in the United States: Recent Inflows and Possible Future Scenarios," Working Papers 1701, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    18. Ha, Yoonsook & Ybarra, Marci, 2014. "The role of parental immigration status in Latino families' child care selection," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P3), pages 342-351.
    19. Ybarra, Marci & Ha, Yoonsook & Chang, Jina, 2017. "Health insurance coverage and routine health care use among children by family immigration status," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 97-106.
    20. Matthew Hall & Kelly Musick & Youngmin Yi, 2019. "Living Arrangements and Household Complexity among Undocumented Immigrants," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(1), pages 81-101, March.

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