Hispanic Border State Emigration Response to Stricter Immigration Control

Abstract This study draws upon assertions that Arizona’s stringent state immigration law has created a hostile social environment for Hispanics due to the law’s unintended racial profiling consequences that have serious spillover effects affecting even documented immigrants and American-born citizens of Hispanic ethnicity. Recent evidence indicates the law’s serious repercussions on the mental and physical health conditions especially among the state’s Hispanic adolescents. This study determines whether in the face of such adverse social environment, affected Hispanic families have considered relocation and migration to its contiguous neighboring states. The border state emigration argument is explored as a logical alternative due proximity and relatively more lenient immigration environment considerations. We employed differences-in-difference and synthetic control method analytical techniques to discern Hispanics’ migration trends leaving Arizona to move into bordering, contiguous states. This study’s findings indicate the lack of significant migratory response of Hispanics in Arizona, thereby suggesting that noncitizen Hispanics instead choose to remain in the state as those with legal residence status assert their immigration residential rights. Given such compelling evidence, policy attention should then be geared towards more significant damage control efforts, perhaps by redirecting resources to launch effective, efficient mechanisms to alleviate Hispanics’ mental and physical health issues.