Sending Signals: Illegal Immigrants and Teenage Sex

Abstract

An important purpose of the law is to communicate to people what is expected of them. Additionally, laws can send signals that sanction or prohibit certain actions. However, for laws to be effective in communicating messages, it requires them to be heard and interpreted by target populations in the ways policy makers intended, yet that is not always the case. This chapter examines whether current laws send signals encouraging foreigners to migrate to the United States, or for teenagers to engage in sexual activity. What it concludes is that there is little evidence to support the beliefs that immigrants are a financial drain on the economy or that the teaching of sex education to teenagers increases their sexual activity.