Do social movements influence decision makers? Evidence from U.S. immigration courts
Abstract
Can modes of collective action, including protests, demonstrations, and marches influence court decisions, even without affecting the law or formal institutions? Here, I assess the influence of protests on the results of removal proceedings in U.S. immigration courts. Using a difference-in-differences design and administrative immigration court data, I compare removal proceedings outcomes around the time of the 2006 immigration reform protests. I find some evidence of a small and temporary influence on removal decisions. The probability of removals appears to decrease by approximately 2 percentage points for up to 3 weeks following the protests’ onset. There is little evidence that the overall effect of mobilization has medium or long term influence on outcomes. The effect varies across case, location and judge characteristics.