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U.S. Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American THE REGIONAL MIGRATION STUDY GROUP US ImmIgratIon PolIcy and mexIcan/ central amerIcan mIgratIon FlowS: then and now By Marc R. Rosenblum and Kate Brick THE REGIONAL MIGRATION STUDY GROUP US IMMIGRATION POLICY AND MEXICAN/ CENTRAL AMERICAN MIGRATION FLOWS: Then and Now By Marc R. Rosenblum and Kate Brick August 2011 Acknowledgments The authors thank Doris Meissner and Demetrios G. Papademetriou for comments on an earlier draft of this paper, and Ashley Challinor and Lawrence Hoyt for their diligent research, insight, and editorial assistance. This paper was produced for the Regional Migration Study Group convened by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center. The Study Group, a three-year- initiative, will act as a virtual think tank to the region’s policymakers and civil-society officials who manage day-to-day migration relations and other issues related to human capital and global competitiveness. The Study Group’s mission, membership, and research can be found at: www.migrationpolicy.org/regionalstudygroup. The research for this paper was undertaken while Marc Rosenblum was an MPI senior policy analyst, and the views contained herein do not represent those of the Congressional Research Service. © 2011 Migration Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved. Cover Photo: Modified version of North American map (2725801) – BigStockPhoto.com Cover Design: Burke Speaker, MPI Typesetting: April Siruno, MPI No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Migration Policy Institute. A full- text PDF of this document is available for free download from: www.migrationpolicy.org. Permission for reproducing excerpts from this report should be directed to: Permissions Department, Migration Policy Institute, 1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, or by contacting [email protected]. Suggested citation: Rosenblum, Marc R. and Kate Brick. 2011. US Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American Migration Flows: Then and Now. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. Table of Contents Executive Summary .........................................................................................................................1 I. Introduction: Understanding International Migration Flows ................2 II. History of Regional Migration Flows and US Immigration Policy ...3 A. Pre-World War II: Limited Migration and Early Migration Controls ..................................3 B. The Bracero Program: Wartime and Post-War Migration ...................................................4 C. 1965-1986: The Construction of an Illegal Regime.................................................................5 III. US Immigration Policy since 1986 ............................................................................6 A. Increased Admissions ....................................................................................................................6 B. Border Enforcement ....................................................................................................................8 C. Worksite Enforcement ................................................................................................................9 D. Other Interior Enforcement ......................................................................................................11 E. Analysis: The Limits of US Immigration Policy ......................................................................13 IV. A Portrait of Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States ..............................................................................................................14 A. Recent Immigration from Mexico and Central America ...................................................14 B. Geographic Distribution ............................................................................................................15 C. Immigration Status .......................................................................................................................17 D. Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics ..............................................................18 E. Employment and Income ............................................................................................................19 V. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................22 Works Cited .........................................................................................................................................23 About the Authors ..........................................................................................................................27 MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE Executive Summary Migration rates to the United States from Mexico and Central America’s “Northern Triangle” (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) have accelerated in the last four decades, spurred by strong migration push-and-pull factors and massive opportunity differentials throughout the region. About 14 million immigrants from these four countries live in the United States today, up from fewer than 1 million in 1970s, and these countries account for 36 percent of all US immigrants. This significant increase has been driven by economic opportunities, and facilitated by social networks of friends and family already in the United States. laissez faire The history of US immigration policy within the region corresponds with three major migration periods: mostly policies prior to the 1930s with limited migration before World War II; a large-scale temporary worker program (the Bracero Program) during and after the war that increased migration flows; and the emergence of a mostly illegal system following the elimination of the Bracero Program and passage of major immigration legislation in 1965. Despite increasingly robust immigration enforcement beginning in the 1980s, illegal flows of immigrants from Mexico and Central America have persisted. Since 1965, and particularly since the 1990s, immigration from the region has changed in significant ways. While migration flows historically were dominated by migrants from central Mexico who performed agricultural jobs in the US Southwest, during the last two decades the regional migration system has diversified to encompass new communities of origin in Mexico and Central America, new destinations throughout the United States, and a broader occupational profile including jobs in construction, maintenance, food service, and manufacturing. Despite these changes, however, immigrants from Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America continue to have less education and lower incomes than natives and other immigrants, and with few legal visas available, most immigrants from the region are unauthorized. This significant increase [in Mexican and Central American migrants] has been driven by economic opportunities, and facilitated by social networks of friends and family already in the United States. These recent dynamics play a critical role in shaping the politics of immigration policy within the United States. Young, low-skilled immigrants perform essential work, but the rapid growth of low-wage, limited English proficient (LEP), unauthorized populations in states with limited migration experience has contributed to increased anti-immigrant sentiment. Forty years into the current wave of regional migration, and after 25 years of increasingly serious enforcement efforts, this history also defines and limits the policy alternatives available, and highlights the challenges of managing regional flows. US Immigration Policy and Mexican/Central American Migration Flows 1 MIGRATION POLICY INSTITUTE I. Introduction: Understanding International Migration Flows International migration is no easy matter, and people do not make the decision lightly to uproot their lives and leave home and family behind. Explaining migration — why people move, who and how many people migrate, and how they choose where to go — depends on a combination of structural factors that are difficult for governments to control and on the policy environment in which migration decisionmaking occurs. 1 Structural factors are the primary drivers of international migration and fall into three categories: Push factors in countries of origin that encourage outflows. These include a wide range of factors that limit economic opportunities in much of the developing world, including low wages and insufficient formal-sector employment, poor investment opportunities, and inadequate access to credit, finance, and insurance systems. Push factors are not strictly a function of underdevelopment, however, as economic development often creates its own conditions for emigration by disrupting traditional markets, and household2 and community relations while generating the capital necessary to finance migration. Noneconomic push factors such as authoritarian or corrupt governments, wars, and natural disasters can be equally important reasons that people emigrate, and have 3played a significant role in the first wavesPull factors of Central American migration to the United States. in destination states that encourage inflows. The primary pull factors that attract immigration are the availability of jobs and associated economic opportunities for immigrants and their families,
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