Do social movements influence decision makers? Evidence from U.S. immigration courts
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Kountouris, Yiannis
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Can modes of collective action, including protests, demonstrations, and marches influence court decisions, even without affecting the law or formal institutions? Here, I assess the influence of protests on the results of removal proceedings in U.S. immigration courts. Using a difference-in-differences design and administrative immigration court data, I compare removal proceedings outcomes around the time of the 2006 immigration reform protests. I find some evidence of a small and temporary influence on removal decisions. The probability of removals appears to decrease by approximately 2 percentage points for up to 3 weeks following the protests’ onset. There is little evidence that the overall effect of mobilization has medium or long term influence on outcomes. The effect varies across case, location and judge characteristics.
Date Issued
2026-09-01
Date Acceptance
2026-06-30
Citation
Journal of Public Economics, 2026, 261
ISSN
0047-2727
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Public Economics
Volume
261
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.jpubeco.2026.105712
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
105712
Date Publish Online
2026-07-22