Immigration Policies and School Bullying

The authors investigate the impact of sanctuary policies—local measures limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement—on school bullying. Using administrative school data, the authors find that these policies are associated with increased race-based bullying targeting Hispanic male youth. Student survey data corroborate this result and highlight underreporting of bullying by Hispanic female youth in sanctuary areas. The authors’ findings suggest a backlash effect, with rising bullying incidents potentially fueled by anti-Hispanic sentiment. These results underscore the need to improve reporting mechanisms to better support the well-being of affected youth.