Russel Sage Foundation

Inspired by the broken windows theory of crime, many cities adopted zero-tolerance policing that targets minor forms of disorderly behavior. In New York City, such policing has disproportionately affected minority youth. For undocumented and immigrant youth, many of whom are also black and Latino, these police encounters also pose the threat of deportation. We know relatively little about how local policing practices that are not specifically designed to enforce federal immigration policies affect minority youth, especially undocumented youth. Sociologists Joscha Legewie, Amy Hsin and Niklas Harder will investigate the consequences of aggressive policing for undocumented students at the City University of New York (CUNY), the nation’s largest public urban university system. The PIs will analyze the short- and long-term educational consequences (by students’ race, country of origin and gender) of being exposed to intense police presence in neighborhoods and the effects of exposure to high-profile cases of police violence.