IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v75y2022i5p1294-1320.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of E-Verify Laws on Crime

Author

Listed:
  • Brandyn F. Churchill
  • Andrew Dickinson
  • Taylor Mackay
  • Joseph J. Sabia

Abstract

E-Verify laws, which have been adopted by 23 states, require employers to verify whether new employees are eligible to legally work prior to employment. This study explores the impact of state E-Verify laws on crime. Using data from the 2004–2015 National Incident Based Reporting System, the authors find that the enactment of E-Verify is associated with a 7% reduction in property crime incidents involving Hispanic arrestees. This finding was strongest for universal E-Verify mandates that extend to private employers and its external validity bolstered by evidence from the Uniform Crime Reports. Supplemental analyses from the Current Population Survey suggest two mechanisms to explain this result: E-Verify-induced increases in the employment of low-skilled natives of Hispanic descent and out-migration of younger Hispanics. Findings show no evidence that arrests were displaced to nearby jurisdictions without E-Verify or that violent crime or arrests of African Americans were affected by E-Verify laws. The magnitudes of the estimates suggest that E-Verify laws averted $491 million in property crime costs to the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:75:y:2022:i:5:p:1294-1320
    DOI: 10.1177/00197939211044449
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00197939211044449
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00197939211044449?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chloe N. East & Annie L. Hines & Philip Luck & Hani Mansour & Andrea Velásquez, 2023. "The Labor Market Effects of Immigration Enforcement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(4), pages 957-996.
    2. Raphael, Steven & Winter-Ember, Rudolf, 2001. "Identifying the Effect of Unemployment on Crime," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 259-283, April.
    3. Bohn, Sarah & Lofstrom, Magnus, 2012. "Employment Effects of State Legislation against the Hiring of Unauthorized Immigrant Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 6598, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. 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.
    5. Jennifer L. Doleac & Benjamin Hansen, 2017. "Moving to Job Opportunities? The Effect of "Ban the Box" on the Composition of Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 556-559, May.
    6. Gordon H. Hanson, 2006. "Illegal Migration from Mexico to the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 869-924, December.
    7. Sarah Bohn & Magnus Lofstrom & Steven Raphael, 2015. "Do E‐verify mandates improve labor market outcomes of low‐skilled native and legal immigrant workers?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(4), pages 960-979, April.
    8. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2008. "Bootstrap-Based Improvements for Inference with Clustered Errors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 414-427, August.
    9. 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.
    10. Eric D. Gould & Bruce A. Weinberg & David B. Mustard, 2002. "Crime Rates And Local Labor Market Opportunities In The United States: 1979-1997," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 45-61, February.
    11. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Lee Jin Young & Solon Gary, 2011. "The Fragility of Estimated Effects of Unilateral Divorce Laws on Divorce Rates," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, August.
    15. Thomas J. Miles & Adam B. Cox, 2014. "Does Immigration Enforcement Reduce Crime? Evidence from Secure Communities," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 937-973.
    16. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    17. repec:wly:soecon:v:81:4:y:2015:p:947-959 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Anna Öster & Jonas Agell, 2007. "Crime and Unemployment in Turbulent Times," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(4), pages 752-775, June.
    19. Kristin F. Butcher & Anne Morrison Piehl, 1998. "Recent Immigrants: Unexpected Implications for Crime and Incarceration," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(4), pages 654-679, July.
    20. Kristin F. Butcher & Anne Morrison Piehl, 1998. "Cross-city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 457-493.
    21. Joseph J. Sabia & Taylor Mackay & Thanh Tam Nguyen & Dhaval M. Dave, 2018. "Do Ban the Box Laws Increase Crime?," NBER Working Papers 24381, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Mustard, David B., 2010. "How Do Labor Markets Affect Crime? New Evidence on an Old Puzzle," IZA Discussion Papers 4856, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Masterson, Daniel & Yasenov, Vasil, 2019. "Does Halting Refugee Resettlement Reduce Crime? Evidence from the United States Refugee Ban," IZA Discussion Papers 12551, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    24. Ming-Jen Lin, 2008. "Does Unemployment Increase Crime?: Evidence from U.S. Data 1974–2000," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(2), pages 413-436.
    25. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Xing Jin & Susan Pozo, "undated". "Does E-Verify Discriminate against Hispanic Citizens?," Economics Working Papers 07-05/2015, School of Business Administration, American University of Sharjah.
    26. repec:wly:soecon:v:81:4:y:2015:p:960-979 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. 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.
    28. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Bansak, Cynthia & Pozo, Susan, 2018. "Refugee Admissions and Public Safety: Are Refugee Settlement Areas More Prone to Crime?," IZA Discussion Papers 11612, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    29. Zhang, Yinjunjie & Palma, Marco A. & Xu, Zhicheng Phil, 2016. "Unintended effects of the Alabama HB 56 immigration law on crime: A preliminary analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 68-71.
    30. Jongkwan Lee & Giovanni Peri & Vasil Yasenov, 2017. "The Employment Effects of Mexican Repatriations: Evidence from the 1930's," NBER Working Papers 23885, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Otsu, Yuki, 2021. "Sanctuary cities and crime," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 600-615.
    2. Lim, Sunghun & Paik, SongYi, 2021. "The Impact of E-Verify Immigration Policy on the U.S. Agricultural Labor Shortage," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315125, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    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. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Wang, Chunbei, 2020. "Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    2. Brandyn Churchill, 2021. "E‐Verify mandates and unauthorized immigrants' health insurance coverage," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(2), pages 487-526, October.
    3. Zachary S. Fone & Joseph J. Sabia & Resul Cesur, 2019. "Do Minimum Wage Increases Reduce Crime?," NBER Working Papers 25647, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Fone, Zachary S. & Sabia, Joseph J. & Cesur, Resul, 2023. "The unintended effects of minimum wage increases on crime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    5. Milo Bianchi & Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Pinotti, 2012. "Do Immigrants Cause Crime?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(6), pages 1318-1347, December.
    6. 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.
    7. Francesco Fasani, 2018. "Immigrant crime and legal status: evidence from repeated amnesty programs," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 887-914.
    8. Gunadi, Christian, 2020. "Does immigrant legalization affect crime? Evidence from deferred action for childhood arrivals in the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 327-353.
    9. Nordin , Martin, 2014. "Does Eligibility for Tertiary Education Affect Crime Rates? Quasi-Experimental Evidence," Working Papers 2014:14, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    10. Alejandro Gaviria & Carlos Medina & Jorge Tamayo, 2010. "Assessing the Link between Adolescent Fertility and Urban Crime," Borradores de Economia 6860, Banco de la Republica.
    11. Jaewook Byeon & Iljoong Kim & Dongwon Lee, 2018. "Protest and property crime: political use of police resources and the deterrence of crime," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 181-196, April.
    12. Altindag, Duha T., 2012. "Crime and unemployment: Evidence from Europe," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 145-157.
    13. Sarah Greer & Pia M. Orrenius & Madeline Zavodny, 2020. "Who Signs up for E-Verify? Insights from DHS Enrollment Records," Working Papers 2002, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    14. 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.
    15. Kayaoglu, Aysegul, 2022. "Do refugees cause crime?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    16. Piopiunik, Marc & Ruhose, Jens, 2017. "Immigration, regional conditions, and crime: Evidence from an allocation policy in Germany," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 258-282.
    17. Bignon, Vincent & Caroli, Eve & Galbiati, Roberto, 2011. "Stealing to Survive: Crime and Income Shocks in 19th Century France," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 1111, CEPREMAP, revised Feb 2013.
    18. Satadru Das & Naci Mocan, 2020. "Analyzing The Impact Of The World'S Largest Public Works Project On Crime," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(3), pages 1167-1182, July.
    19. Deiana, C, 2016. "Local Labour Market Effects of Unemployment on Crime Induced by Trade Shocks," Economics Discussion Papers 16529, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    20. Mocan Naci & Unel Bulent, 2017. "Skill-Biased Technological Change, Earnings of Unskilled Workers, and Crime," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 1-46, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    E-Verify; immigration; crime; employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K14 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Criminal Law
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

    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:sae:ilrrev:v:75:y:2022:i:5:p:1294-1320. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    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.