Better schools or different students? The relationship between immigration reform and school performance in Arizona (Margarita Pivovarova, Robert Vagi, Brookings)

Donald Trump has made waves during this year’s election cycle by taking a hard line on illegal immigration. This, however, builds on years of heated debate among policymakers. It is also an enduring hot-button issue in Arizona, which has passed several immigration laws over the years. In 2010, the passage of SB 1070 brought national attention to this debate. Deemed the strictest immigration law to date, SB 1070 sought to achieve “attrition [of illegal immigrants] through enforcement” by requiring law enforcement to detain any person whom they believed to be residing in the country illegally. Although SB 1070’s effects on individuals and families have been well documented, little is known about its impact on students and schools. To this end, we sought to estimate the relationship between the passage of SB 1070 and school-level student achievement.

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2016/04/15-immigration-student-achievement-pivovarova-vagi