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The Migration of Children from Mexico to the USA in the Early 2000s

Author

Listed:
  • Erin R. Hamilton

    (University of California at Davis)

  • Maryann Bylander

    (Department of Sociology and Anthropology)

Abstract

Children comprise a significant share of immigrants around the world, yet scholarship has largely treated children as adult-like or adult-following actors in migration. We explore how the early life course and parents’ migration structured children’s migration from Mexico to the USA from 2002 to 2005, using the Mexican Family Life Survey, national survey data from Mexico that tracked 854 migrants, including 375 children, to the USA. We find that while parents’ migration decisions matter at all ages, young children who migrate are nearly always accompanied by their parents, whereas the minority of adolescents are. Primary school-aged children and accompanied adolescents migrate in response to community violence and barriers to education, suggesting that their migration reflects concerns about where it is best to raise children. Adolescents who migrate without their parents do so in response to economic factors, much like adults; however, adolescents also respond to youth community migration prevalence, suggesting that youth-specific norms of migration frame their decision-making. The results show how the early life course structures three distinct profiles of child migration: complete dependents, children whose location choices reflect concerns about schools and safety, and near independents. More generally, the determinants and process of migration shift as parental oversight declines and social structures beyond the family—community violence, access to education, youth norms, gender, and labor markets—emerge as important.

Suggested Citation

  • Erin R. Hamilton & Maryann Bylander, 2021. "The Migration of Children from Mexico to the USA in the Early 2000s," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 337-361, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:40:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-020-09591-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-020-09591-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Erin R. Hamilton, 2015. "Gendered disparities in Mexico-U.S. migration by class, ethnicity, and geography," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(17), pages 533-542.
    2. Jessica Heckert, 2015. "New perspective on youth migration," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(27), pages 765-800.
    3. Erin Hamilton & Robin Savinar, 2015. "Two Sources of Error in Data on Migration From Mexico to the United States in Mexican Household-Based Surveys," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1345-1355, August.
    4. Tyler W. Myroniuk & Michael J. White & Mark Gross & Rebecca Wang & Carren Ginsburg & Mark Collinson, 2018. "Does it Take a Village? Migration among Rural South African Youth," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(6), pages 1079-1108, December.
    5. David P. Lindstrom & Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo, 2007. "The interrelationship of fertility, family maintenance and Mexico-U.S. Migration," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 17(28), pages 821-858.
    6. Shahin Yaqub, 2009. "Independent Child Migrants in Developing Countries: Unexplored links in migration and development," Papers inwopa09/62, Innocenti Working Papers.
    7. Andrés Villarreal, 2014. "Explaining the Decline in Mexico-U.S. Migration: The Effect of the Great Recession," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2203-2228, December.
    8. Liliana Meza González & Liliana Meza González & Carla Pederzini Villarreal, 2009. "Migración internacional y escolaridad como medios alternativos de movilidad social: el caso de México," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 0(Special i), pages 163-206.
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    10. Claudia Masferrer & Erin R. Hamilton & Nicole Denier, 2019. "Immigrants in Their Parental Homeland: Half a Million U.S.-born Minors Settle Throughout Mexico," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1453-1461, August.
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