This preliminary empirical study for the year 2010 analyses whether interstate differentials in economic freedom influence the state-level settlement pattern of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. This study also seeks to determine whether the number of sanctuary cities in a state may also have acted as an attraction for undocumented immigrants. In both estimates, the settlement pattern of the undocumented immigrant population appears to be an increasing function of the level of overall economic freedom in a state. The results in this study imply that a one unit higher value for the economic freedom index for a state would, ceteris paribus, be associated with a higher value for the relative size of the undocumented immigrant population in the state in the range of 28 to 33 percent. The evidence in the estimates provided here also indicates that undocumented immigrants are indeed attracted to states having more sanctuary cities.
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Front Matter
