Deportations and Latino Segregation: The Residential Impacts of Interior Immigration Enforcement.

Abstract

The shift of immigration enforcement to local communities has amplified anti-immigrant sentiment and enabled the unprecedented expansion of mass deportation systems. This study examines one such effort-the 287(g) program, which empowers local law enforcement to enforce U.S. immigration laws-and its effects on the residential segregation of Latinos. Using a difference-in-differences design that compares counties that implemented 287(g) with applicant counties that did not implement, we find that these policies significantly slowed declines in Latino‒White segregation, particularly in early-adopting Southern counties, where enforcement was most aggressive. We detect no effects on Black‒White or Latino‒Black segregation. Our analysis also suggests that these effects are driven by shifts in residential mobility and migration behaviors among Latino households, as enforcement amplified economic vulnerability, fear, and spatial isolation. These results indicate that interior immigration enforcement functions as a structural barrier to Latino integration, with downstream consequences for racial stratification and neighborhood inequality.