Ameliorating the Fear: Sanctuary Cities, Fear of Deportation, and Comfort Giving Out Personal Information

Source abstract

Does living in a sanctuary city moderate the relationship between fear of deportation and immigrants’ willingness to give out personal information? While fear's impacts on health are well-documented, few studies examine its effects on behavior. Using a survey of approximately 1,500 undocumented Mexican nationals, we find that immigrants with lower fear levels report greater comfort providing personal information in everyday occurrences, including going to restaurants, police encounters, or visiting hospitals, than those who report more fear. This relationship is moderated by sanctuary status: immigrants who believe they live in sanctuary cities are more comfortable sharing information. By linking survey data with sanctuary city information, we offer a novel contribution to the study of domestic immigration enforcement—although we note that these findings may not translate into the Trump 2.0 era. Our findings suggest that policies reducing fear—such as sanctuary city protections—can play a meaningful role in fostering immigrant integration.