A New Measure of the Likely Authorization Status of Noncitizens in the American Community Surveys: Methodology and Descriptive Results for 2010

Robert Warren, Center for Migration Studies
Vicky Virgin, New York City Center for Economic Opportunity
John R. Warren, University of Minnesota

We describe a method for inferring the authorization status of foreign-born U.S. residents in the 2010-2013 American Community Surveys (ACS). Based on this method, we construct a new variable that reflects likely authorization status. The variable can be cross-tabulated with any variable now available in the ACS and at whatever level of geographic aggregation desired (e.g., state, county, city, PUMA). Our method overcomes conceptual problems that characterized previous efforts (as described, for example, by Van Hook et al, 2015). The resulting variable should be useful for academic research (for example, on the spatial dispersion or personal attributes of unauthorized people) and for policy and service planning at the regional, state, and local levels.