Undocumented, not Unengaged: Local Immigration Laws and the Shaping of Undocumented Mexicans' Political Engagement

Abstract

cholars have long demonstrated that laws convey messages to people about how government views them and that these messages impact targeted groups' political behavior. Drawing from this insight, this study asks if and how local immigration laws shape the political lives of undocumented Mexican immigrants in US cities. The article advances a tripartite theory of political engagement to demonstrate that the design of local immigration measures impacts the political socialization, political efficacy, and political participation of immigrant communities on the ground. This multidimensional model contributes a more holistic account of undocumented immigrants' political engagement than is available in the existing literature. With a matched case comparison of undocumented life in cities with divergent immigration laws, the article shows that local opportunity structures embedded within receiving locales profoundly influence the nature of political engagement for undocumented residents.