DO ICE ENFORCEMENT TACTICS THREATEN THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY?

 

As a member of The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), I often wonder about the extent to which our membership voices concerns about ICE enforcement policies. While our training reinforces the practice of remaining objective in the design and execution of research studies, there is little doubt that the national media attention devoted to ICE enforcement practices has become ingrained in the minds of research practitioners and the potential disruption that it entails. Indeed, news reports tell us daily about the raids or sweeps by ICE that are taking place at such places as work, worship, schools and residences, and the disruption that these raids have caused to families and businesses that include immigrants – both the undocumented and those with legal status. More troubling are the deaths of U.S. citizens that have occurred by ICE agents, and the trend that a majority of the individuals arrested have no criminal record other than being in the U.S. illegally, as reported by The Cato Institute from analyses of federal statistics on U.S. apprehensions.

For a number of reasons, research practitioners should be concerned about ICE enforcement practices.  Let’s discuss a few of these reasons:

·        Chilling effects:  These raids or community sweeps create fear and anxiety among community members, especially immigrants and mixed-status families – leading in turn to no-shows, lower response rates, and a disruption of the research process.  I vividly recall conducting an intercept study of immigrants that were evaluating a commercial at a local Greyhound station.  As the immigrants arrived at the bus station, immigration agents appeared and detained all immigrants, thus undermining the study execution.

·        Undermining Trust: Aggressive enforcement tactics erode trust among communities that have been historically marginalized.  Concerns about trust are not just associated with government institutions but are generalized to institutions that have previously been considered safe havens by immigrants, such as churches, schools and community organizations.  Thus, research practitioners must work harder to regain this trust and face the reality of higher budgets to get a study completed.

·        Disruption of Research Talent: The scientific and academic labor force is experiencing disruption by ICE enforcement policies, including international students, visiting scholars, and multicultural staff.  Such risks to our talent pipeline ultimately influences the quality of scientific research, especially as one considers that the majority of U.S. patents are generated by immigrants to the U.S.

·        Community Resistance and Civil Unrest:  The resulting protest movements and civil actions generated by heightened enforcement actions can disrupt the research environment and participation availability.  New approaches will be needed to encourage participation, perhaps through novel incentive programs and data collection practices. However, novel incentives may not be enough to overcome the fear and anxiety experienced in these communities, which remain highly vulnerable as long as raids and search tactics do not require a judicial warrant by ICE agents.

·        Health Impacts on Communities: Health risks related to detention and family separation directly impact community well-being, raising additional concerns for researchers working with such individuals.

These are just a few of the reasons that come to mind that are increasingly influencing the quality of the research that we can conduct. The inclusion of immigrants and other marginalized groups in our research studies is essential to the generation of indicators that accurately measure their quality of life in numerous areas such as health, education, economics, the environment and others – indicators included in the U.S. Census, Center for Disease Control and other large-scale population studies that are key to defining interventions needed in these communities.

Perhaps our research community should set aside their scientific hats for a moment and join the chorus of organizations that are voicing objections about ICE enforcement practices.