An Estimate of the Level and Determinants of Illicit Drug Use among Unauthorized Latino Immigrant Arrestees in California

Abstract

Although justifications for a more restrictive U.S. immigration policy have increasingly relied on linking socially unacceptable behaviors such as welfare participation and illicit drug use with illegal entry, very few immigration impact studies separate respondents by foreign-born legal status. Applying a legal status prediction equation to 1994–1996 CALDUF data, this paper (1) estimates the relative level of illicit drug use (IU) among unauthorized Latino immigrant arrestees (ULIAs) in California and (2) investigates how individual-demographic and institutional-structural factors influence IU. ULIAs were underrepresented, with a smaller proportion testing positive for IU and having experienced or desired drug treatment. Regression results suggest (1) ULIA status had an independent negative effect on IU; and (2) higher earnings may have decreased, and public assistance recipiency and the percent of one's income obtained illegally may have increased, the likelihood of IU. We conclude by discussing implications for various policy instruments.

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