Papers Please: Immigration, Enforcement, and Remmitances

This research aims to analyze and present the economic reaction visible in immigrants, unauthorized or not, in Arizona during the period in which SB 1070, a law that allowed state police officers to stop and ask for proof of residency from anyone that the officers deemed to “have the appearance of an immigrant”. To make the analysis on how this may have had economic implications in immigrants, an attempt to answer how remittance activity changes in immigrant communities in the context of a change in law enforcement jurisdiction, as seen by the SB. 1070 law enacted in Arizona is made. Immigrants participate almost exclusively in local economies, be this because of a function of relatedness or a feeling of safety. Policy and laws of this sort have the potential to reduce immigrant consumption and perhaps even out-migrate from fear of the increasingly hostile surroundings they find themselves in. If they are to reduce personal spending, local economies will see a downturn, resulting in marginal or stagnated growth. As well as economic changes, institutional mistrust may also see an increase, creating a void of use in institutions, signifying a misallocation, and waste of resources. This process of creating anti-immigratory policies, although lawful, and effective in their goal, have unintended consequences with social spillover generating harm to the general social welfare pool