Backlash: Effects of 9/11 on Immigrants, Muslims, and Arabs Living in the U.S.

Neeraj Kaushal, Columbia University
Cordelia Reimers, City University of New York

Since the September 11 terrorists' attacks, a growing number of Arabs and Muslims living in the United States have become victims of hate crimes and ethnic and religious profiling. The objective of this study is to measure the economic repercussions of this backlash on the lives of immigrants, especially Arabs and Muslims. In particular, we study the effect of the September 11 attacks and its ongoing aftermath on the labor market outcomes--employment and wages--and location choices of these groups and try answer the following questions: Has discrimination against immigrants resulting from September 11 affected their employment and wages? How did immigrants, in particular Arabs and Muslims, react to the incidents of hate crime? Have they moved out of cities where they were targets or potential targets of hate crime?