IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v630y2010i1p270-293.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Policy Shocks: On the Legal Auspices of Latin American Migration to the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Fernando Riosmena

    (Population Program, Institute of Behavioral Science, at the University of Colorado at Boulder)

Abstract

This article compares the transition into legal permanent residence (LPR) of Mexicans, Dominicans, and Nicaraguans. Dominicans had the highest likelihood of obtaining such residence, mostly sponsored by parents and spouses. Mexicans had the lowest LPR transition rates and presented sharp gender differentials in modes: women were found to be mostly legalized through husbands, while men were sponsored by their parents or through provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). Nicaraguans stood in between, presenting few gender differences in rates and modes of transition and a heavy dependence on asylum and special provisions in immigration legislation. These patterns are found to stem from the interplay of conditions favoring the emigration of, and the specific immigration policy context faced by, migrant pioneers; the influence of social networks in reproducing the legal character of flows; and differences in the actual use of kinship ties as sponsors. The implications of these trends on the observed gendered patterns of migration from Latin America are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernando Riosmena, 2010. "Policy Shocks: On the Legal Auspices of Latin American Migration to the United States," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 630(1), pages 270-293, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:630:y:2010:i:1:p:270-293
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716210368113
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716210368113
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716210368113?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adrian D. Pantoja & Sarah Allen Gershon, 2006. "Political Orientations and Naturalization Among Latino and Latina Immigrants," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(5), pages 1171-1187, December.
    2. Irene Bloemraad, 2006. "Citizenship Lessons from the Past: The Contours of Immigrant Naturalization in the Early 20th Century," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(s1), pages 927-953.
    3. Irene Bloemraad, 2006. "Citizenship Lessons from the Past: The Contours of Immigrant Naturalization in the Early 20th Century," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(5), pages 927-953, December.
    4. Julie Phillips & Douglas Massey, 1999. "The new labor market: Immigrants and wages after IRCA," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(2), pages 233-246, May.
    5. World Bank, 2005. "World Development Indicators 2005," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 12425.
    6. Marcela Cerrutti & Douglas Massey, 2001. "On the auspices of female migration from Mexico to the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(2), pages 187-200, May.
    7. Elizabeth Fussell & Douglas Massey, 2004. "The limits to cumulative causation: International migration from Mexican Urban Areas," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(1), pages 151-171, February.
    8. Bernt Bratsberg & James F. Ragan & Zafar M. Nasir, 2002. "The Effect of Naturalization on Wage Growth: A Panel Study of Young Male Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(3), pages 568-597, July.
    9. Funkhouser, Edward, 1992. "Migration from Nicaragua: some recent evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 1209-1218, August.
    10. Guillermina Jasso & Mark Rosenzweig, 1986. "Family reunification and the immigration multiplier: U.S. immigration law, origin-country conditions, and the reproduction of immigrants," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 23(3), pages 291-311, August.
    11. Adrian D. Pantoja & Sarah Allen Gershon, 2006. "Political Orientations and Naturalization Among Latino and Latina Immigrants," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(s1), pages 1171-1187.
    12. K. Bruce Newbold & Nuzul Achjar, 2002. "Immigration, Intended Settlement Patterns, and their Dynamics in the United States, 1980-1990," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 25(2), pages 219-244, April.
    13. Kaivan Munshi, 2003. "Networks in the Modern Economy: Mexican Migrants in the U. S. Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 549-599.
    14. repec:wbk:wbpubs:12426 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. David Lindstrom, 1996. "Economic opportunity in mexico and return migration from the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 33(3), pages 357-374, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rochelle Côté & Jessica Jensen & Louise Roth & Sandra Way, 2015. "The Effects of Gendered Social Capital on U.S. Migration: A Comparison of Four Latin American Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 989-1015, June.
    2. Mao-Mei Liu, 2013. "Migrant Networks and International Migration: Testing Weak Ties," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1243-1277, August.
    3. Fernando Riosmena & Raphael Nawrotzki & Lori Hunter, 2018. "Climate Migration at the Height and End of the Great Mexican Emigration Era," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 455-488, September.
    4. Holly E. Reed & Michael White & Catherine S. Andrzejewski, 2010. "Men’s and women’s migration in coastal Ghana," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(25), pages 771-812.
    5. Guy Stecklov & Calogero Carletto & Carlo Azzarri & Benjamin Davis, 2010. "Gender and migration from Albania," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(4), pages 935-961, November.
    6. Lori M. Hunter & Sheena Murray & Fernando Riosmena, 2013. "Rainfall Patterns and U.S. Migration from Rural Mexico," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 874-909, December.
    7. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Kusum Mundra, 2007. "Social networks and their impact on the earnings of Mexican Migrants," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(4), pages 849-863, November.
    8. Raphael Nawrotzki & Fernando Riosmena & Lori Hunter, 2013. "Do Rainfall Deficits Predict U.S.-Bound Migration from Rural Mexico? Evidence from the Mexican Census," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(1), pages 129-158, February.
    9. Fernando Riosmena & Douglas S. Massey, 2012. "Pathways to El Norte: Origins, Destinations, and Characteristics of Mexican Migrants to the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 3-36, March.
    10. Javorcik, Beata S. & Özden, Çaglar & Spatareanu, Mariana & Neagu, Cristina, 2011. "Migrant networks and foreign direct investment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 231-241, March.
    11. Akee, Randall K. Q., 2007. "Who Leaves and Who Returns? Deciphering Immigrant Self-Selection from a Developing Country," IZA Discussion Papers 3268, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Conover Emily & Khamis Melanie & Pearlman Sarah, 2021. "Gender Imbalances and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Large-Scale Mexican Migration," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, January.
    13. Catron, Peter, 2017. "The Citizenship Advantage: Immigrant Socioeconomic Attainment across Generations in the First Half of the Twentieth Century," SocArXiv c7k45, Center for Open Science.
    14. Elke Holst & Andrea Schäfer & Mechthild Schrooten, 2010. "Gender, Transnational Networks and Remittances: Evidence from Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 296, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    15. Rebecca Lessem & Brian Cadena & Brian Kovak & Shan Li, 2018. "Migration networks and Mexican migrants' spatial mobility in the US," 2018 Meeting Papers 196, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    16. Michel Beine & Frédéric Docquier & Çağlar Özden, 2010. "Diaspora Effects in International Migration: Key Questions and Methodological Issues," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 146(IV), pages 639-659, December.
    17. Sílvio Rendon & Alfredo Cuecuecha, 2010. "International job search: Mexicans in and out of the US," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 53-82, March.
    18. Martin Kahanec & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2008. "Migration and Globalization: Challenges and Perspectives for the Research Infrastructure," RatSWD Working Papers 51, German Data Forum (RatSWD).
    19. Fernanda Herrera & Gabriel González-König, 2019. "Labor Migrant Networks: Growth, Saturation, and Deflection to New Labor Markets," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 445-472, June.
    20. Claudia Masferrer & Bryan Roberts, 2012. "Going Back Home? Changing Demography and Geography of Mexican Return Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(4), pages 465-496, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:630:y:2010:i:1:p:270-293. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.