Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS)
Category: Teacher and Leader Development
Intensified immigration enforcement activity under the second Trump administration has increased anxiety for immigrants in the United States, including many families with school-age children. This study provides early evidence on the effects of the second Trump presidency on the attendance of students who may be from immigrant families. Using a difference-in-differences design, I estimate the effects of the second Trump presidency on the attendance of English learners (ELs) relative to non-ELs in samples of schools in Rhode Island and Connecticut. I find negative effects in both settings. In Connecticut, I find small decreases in average attendance for EL students and larger increases in chronic absenteeism of 0.83 percentage points (2.8%). In Rhode Island, I find that attendance for EL students fell by 1.97 percentage points (2.3%). Together with other recent work, my results suggest that immigration enforcement under the second Trump presidency is already impacting students and schools in a variety of settings nationwide.
Keywords
immigration enforcement, immigrants, absences, attendance, K-12 schools
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/vxtn-r577
