THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ON THE U.S. DAIRY FARM SECTOR: EVIDENCE FROM E-VERIFY POLICY
The research examines the impact of state E-Verify policy on employment, wages, milk production, and number of dairy herds within the U.S. dairy farm industry from 2003 to 2022. Utilizing state-level data from multiple sources, I employ basic and dynamic Difference in Differences (DID) methodologies to analyze the effects of E-Verify implementation, holding parallel trend assumption. I also use the Synthetic Control Method to discern the localized effects of E-Verify in representative states. The findings reveal that the E-Verify policy had a significant and enduring negative impact on dairy farm employment and the number of dairy herds. The policy caused an immediate decrease in milk production and increase in wages after the implementation. These results hold crucial implications for labor-intensive industries that might be affected by immigration enforcement measures.