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Explaining Undocumented Migration to the U.S

Author

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  • Douglas S. Massey
  • Jorge Durand
  • Karen A. Pren

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="imre12151-abs-0001"> Using data from the Mexican Migration Project and the Latin American Migration Project, we find that undocumented migration from Mexico reflects U.S. labor demand and access to migrant networks and is little affected by border enforcement, which instead sharply reduces the odds of return movement. Undocumented migration from Central America follows primarily from political violence associated with the U.S. intervention of the 1980s, and return migration has always been unlikely. Mass undocumented migration from Mexico appears to have ended because of demographic changes there, but undocumented migration from Central America can be expected to grow slowly through processes of family reunification.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas S. Massey & Jorge Durand & Karen A. Pren, 2014. "Explaining Undocumented Migration to the U.S," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 1028-1061, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:intmig:v:48:y:2014:i:4:p:1028-1061
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/imre.2014.48.issue-4
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Tjaden, Jasper & Dunsch, Felipe Alexander, 2021. "The effect of peer-to-peer risk information on potential migrants – Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    2. Tjaden, Jasper & Heidland, Tobias, 2024. "Did Merkel's 2015 decision attract more migration to Germany?," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 294184, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Simone Cremaschi & Carlo Devillanova, 2016. "Immigrants and Legal Status: Do Personal Contacts Matter?," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1629, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    4. Katharine M. Donato & Douglas S. Massey, 2016. "Twenty-First-Century Globalization and Illegal Migration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 666(1), pages 7-26, July.
    5. Andrés F. Castro Torres & Edith Y. Gutierrez Vazquez, 2020. "Gendered and stratified family formation trajectories in the context of Latin American migration, 1950 to 2000," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-027, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    6. Douglas S. Massey & Jorge Durand & Karen A. Pren, 2016. "The Precarious Position of Latino Immigrants in the United States," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 666(1), pages 91-109, July.
    7. Adriana Hernández Castañeda & Todd A. Sørensen, 2019. "Changing Sex-Ratios Among Immigrant Communities in the USA," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 20-42, June.
    8. Andrés F. Castro Torres, 2020. "Family formation trajectories and migration status in the United States, 1970-2010," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    9. Douglas S. Massey, 2018. "Finding the Lost Generation: Identifying Second-Generation Immigrants in Federal Statistics," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 677(1), pages 96-104, May.

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