Deportation as Deterrence?

Abstract

This chapter interrogates the impacts of mass deportation for people recently removed from the U.S. to Mexico. It draws from a novel survey conducted in 2018 with 128 individuals at a migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico to assess factors impacting intentions to re-migrate the U.S. after removal. Far from deportation preventing remigration to the U.S., the authors found most individuals planned to return to the U.S. at some point. The number of deportations a person experienced did not influence their future migratory plans. Rather, individuals were motivated to attempt another migration based on the location of their subjective belonging, family ties, and nature of their interactions with the U.S. legal system prior to deportation. These findings contribute to research suggesting that migratory decisions are socially embedded, opening up new areas for research on the impact of institutional processes on re-migration plans.