Send Them Back? The Real Estate Consequences of Repatriations

Abstract

While developed nations increasingly debate the adoption of large-scale immigrant deportation, their consequences to housing markets and city growth are vastly unknown. We study the 1930s mass repatriation of Mexicans and its effects on U.S. housing markets. Developing a novel Census house-linking algorithm, we document that the repatriation negatively impacted U.S. cities. Mexican-occupied properties saw decreased values and rents but were not subsequently occupied by U.S.-born families. Instead, the repatriation lowered neighboring U.S.-born house values and depressed cities’ real estate growth. Our findings reveal significant adverse effects on individual and aggregate housing wealth, challenging the notion that deportations benefit U.S.-born households.

Keywords: Real Estate, Housing, Immigration, Great Depression, Anti-Immigration Policies

JEL Classification: R31, G01, N12, J15, J61, N92