Employer Verification Mandates and Infant Health

In recent decades, several states have enacted their own immigration enforcement policies. This reflects substantial variation in the social environments faced by immigrants and native-born citizens, and has raised concerns about unintended consequences. E-Verify mandates, which require employers to use an electronic system to ascertain legal status as a pre-requisite for employment, are a common example of this trend. Drawing on birth certificate data from 2007-2014, during which 21 states enacted E-Verify mandates, we find that these mandates are associated with a decline in birthweight and gestational age for infants born to immigrant mothers with demographic profiles matching the undocumented population in their state as well as for infants of native-born mothers. In observing negative trends for both immigrants and natives, our findings do not support the hypothesis that E-Verify has a distinct impact on immigrant health; however, the broader economic, political, and demographic contexts that coincide with these policies, which likely impact the broader community of both immigrants and natives, may pose risks to infant health.