Future, Interrupted - Examining the Impact of a Large Worksite Enforcement Operation on Students’ Educational and Workforce Pathways

Oct 15, 2026

Future, Interrupted examines how the 2018 immigration raid at Load Trail LLC in Sumner, Texas reshaped students’ educational engagement and workforce pathways. Drawing on robust longitudinal data from Texas, the study documents declines in four-year college enrollment and increased movement into employment during high school, with particularly pronounced effects for Latinx and English-learner students. The findings trace extensive collateral consequences for community members beyond those directly targeted, informing policy approaches.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research focus and theoretical context

Data and measured outcomes

Enforcement episodes and mechanisms

Future, Interrupted: Examining the Impact of a Large Worksite Enforcement Operation on Students’ Educational and Workforce Pathways J. Jacob kirk sey and carolyn sat tin-baJaJ This study investigates the impact of the 2018 immigration raid at Load Trail LLC, a trailer manufacturing company in Sumner, Texas. It analyzes the raid’s severe and enduring effects on the postsecondary pathways of students in the surrounding areas. Situated within the broader discourse on legal vulnerability, this research highlights how exposure to immigration enforcement operations and pervasive anti-immigrantsentiments contributes to diminished educational opportunities. Using robust longitudinal data from Texas, the findings indicate pronounced declines in four-year college enrollment and shifts toward employment during high school, particularly among Latinx and English-learner students. These results delineate the extensive collateral consequences of immigration enforcement on community members not directly targeted by the raid. By documenting the raid’s deleterious effects on both immediate educational engagement and longerterm career prospects, this article calls for targeted policy measures designed to buffer the negative impactsand support the resilience and upward mobility of affected student populations. Keywords: immigration enforcement, postsecondary pathways, Latinx students, English learners, Texas, longitudinal data There is abundant evidence about the largeand long-lasting detrimental effects for children and young adults associated with living ina state of legal vulnerability—whether it be due to their own undocumented status or that of their family members (Amuedo-Dorantes and Lopez 2015, 2017; Brabeck and Xu 2010; Velarde Pierce et al. 2021). Increasingly, scholars, educators, and policymakers have been interested in the relationship between legal vulnerability and students’ academic performance, postsecondary aspirations, enrollment, and persistence, given the strong link between postsecondary credentials and a host of life-course J. Jacob Kirksey is associate professor in the College of Education at Texas Tech University, United States. Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj is associate professor in the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, United States. © 2025 Russell Sage Foundation. Kirksey, J. Jacob, and Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj. 2025.“Future, Interrupted: Examining the Impact of a Large Worksite Enforcement Operation on Students’ Educational and Workforce Pathways.”RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 11(4): 123–41. [https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF](https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF) .2025.11.4.06. Direct correspondence to: J. Jacob Kirksey, [at Jacob.Kirksey@ttu.edu](at Jacob.Kirksey@ttu.edu), College of Education, Texas Tech University, 3002 18th Street, Lubbock, TX 79409, United States. Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, at carolynsattin-bajaj @ [ucsb.edu](ucsb.edu), Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, United States. Open Access Policy: RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences is an open access journal. This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 1 24 t h e u s d e P o rtat i on sy st e m a n d i t s a f t e r m at h outcomes (Amuedo-Dorantes et al. 2023; Amuedo-Dorantes and Lopez 2017; Bellows 2019; Bjorklund 2018; Enriquez 2017; Enriquez et al. 2021; García et al. 2022; Kirksey and SattinBajaj 2021, 2023; Kreisberg and Hsin 2021; Patler 2018; Terriquez 2014; Carnevale et al. 2021; Daugherty 2022; Zajacova and Lawrence 2021). This research has largely sought to measure the impacts of undocumented status overall on post-secondary pathways, participation, and outcomes, with specific attention paid to the impact of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) eligibility on educational decisions. There is much less emphasis on examin

FAQs

What event does the study analyze, and where did it occur?

The study examines the 2018 immigration raid at Load Trail LLC, a trailer manufacturing company in Sumner, Texas.

What outcomes does the research measure regarding students’ pathways?

It measures postsecondary pathways, including enrollment in four-year college and shifts toward employment during high school.

Which student groups show particularly pronounced changes in outcomes?

The findings indicate stronger declines and pathway shifts for Latinx and English-learner students.

Oct 15, 2026

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