Abstract
Illegal immigration has increased substantially in recent years. In this paper, we analyze how Secure Communities (SC), a major internal immigration enforcement program, affected self-employment participation and income in the United States between 2008 and 2013. Following a difference-in-difference approach, we find that the staggered implementation of the SC reduced self-employment rates across the country, but not substantially. However, the policy had a significant negative impact on the income of the self-employed, particularly affecting White and male individuals and workers in the manufacturing and service sectors. Overall, our results highlight the unintended consequences of SC on entrepreneurship in the United States.
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