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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2013
  5. Achieving the DREAM: The Effect of IRCA on Immigrant Youth Postsecondary Educational Access

Achieving the DREAM: The Effect of IRCA on Immigrant Youth Postsecondary Educational Access

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Abstract

This paper contributes to the existing literature on the effect of legal status on educational access among immigrant youth in the United States. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 granted amnesty to undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before 1982. Using a difference-in-differences framework, I analyze the effect of this large amnesty program on immigrant youth's postsecondary educational access. My main finding shows that immigrant youths who were granted amnesty under IRCA are more likely to enroll in postsecondary education.

Citation

Cortes, Kalena E. 2013. "Achieving the DREAM: The Effect of IRCA on Immigrant Youth Postsecondary Educational Access." American Economic Review, 103 (3): 428-32. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.428

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • H52 National Government Expenditures and Education
  • H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
  • I21 Analysis of Education
  • I28 Education: Government Policy
  • J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination