Undocumented Migration from Latin America in an Era of Rising U.S. Enforcement

Abstract

Available data have consistently pointed up the failure of U.S. policies to reduce undocumented migration from Latin America. To shed light on the reasons for this failure, we estimated a series of dynamic models of undocumented entry into and exit from the United States. Our estimates suggest that undocumented migration is grounded more in mechanisms posited by social capital theory and the new economics of labor migration rather than neoclassical economics. As a result, U.S. efforts to increase the costs of undocumented entry and reduce the benefits of undocumented labor have proven unsuccessful given the widespread access of Latin Americans to migrant networks. The main effect of U.S. enforcement efforts has been to reduce the circularity of Latin American migration.

Immigration, Applied Research on

“…Having a migrant parent, a migrant sibling, and a migrant child all separately increase the odds of leaving on a first undocumented trip substantially and significantly (Massey and Riosmena, 2010). But enforcement has had an effect on unauthorized immigration.…”

Computational Economic Modeling of Migration

“…The help of others decreases assimilation costs for new migrants, as shown for Mexican migrants by Massey and Riosmena (2010). Previous migrants influence potential migrants' decisions through the policy channel as well: immigration policy often includes a family reunification element that permits family members of migrants to immigrate as well.…”

Does “Higher Wall” Hinder Immigration?

“…Main articles include Hanson and Spilimbergo (1999), Davila, Pagan and Soydemir (2002), Hanson, Robertson and Spilimbergo (2002), McIntosh (2009, 2010), Massey and Riosmena (2010), Angelucci (2012), Massey Durand andPren (2014), Triandafyllidou (2018) and so on.…”