Immigrants' Deportations, Local Crime and Police Effectiveness

This paper analyzes the impact of immigrant deportations on local crime and police efficiency. The authors' identification relies on increases in the deportation rate driven by the introduction of the Secure Communities (SC) program, an immigration enforcement program based on local-federal cooperation which was rolled out across counties between 2008 and 2013. The authors instrument for the deportation rate by interacting the introduction of SC with the local presence of likely undocumented in 2005, prior to the introduction of SC. The report documents a surge in local deportation rates under SC, and shows that deportations increased the most in counties with a large undocumented population. The paper also finds that SC-driven increases in deportation rates did not reduce crime rates for violent offenses or property offenses. The authors do not find evidence that SC increased either police effectiveness in solving crimes or local police resources. Finally, they do not find effects of deportations on the local employment of unskilled citizens or on local firm creation.

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