Back “Home”: Three Essays on Mexican Return Migrants And
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BACK “HOME”: THREE ESSAYS ON MEXICAN RETURN MIGRANTS AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN’S ASSIMILATION IN MEXICO. A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Maria de Lourdes Ramirez Flores August 2019 © 2019 Maria de Lourdes Ramirez Flores BACK “HOME”: THREE ESSAYS ON MEXICAN RETURN MIGRANTS AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN’S ASSIMILATION IN MEXICO. Maria de Lourdes Ramirez Flores, Ph. D. Cornell University 2019 This dissertation studies how transnationalism, understood as the process of building cross-national relationship, identities, and practices (Levitt and Schiller 2004), affects the children of migrants—those who were born in the country of destination of their parents—when they resettle in their parental homeland. Specifically, I use the case of Mexican-American children who resettle in Mexico. This dissertation is structured in a three paper format. In the first paper, “When things go south: Economic shocks and changes in the composition of return migration," I use cluster analysis to study the connection between return migration and changes in economic conditions in the country of destination. Data for this study come from a Mexican household survey. My results suggest changes in the composition of return migration in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis. The changes were driven by variations among the prevalence of two different profiles of labor migrants. In the second paper, “Mi casa es tu casa? [My house is your house?]: Transnational Practices and the Integration of Children of Return Migrants in their Ancestral Country”, I explore the role of transnationalism in the incorporation of children of return migrants. I develop a theoretical approach that builds on Nee and Sanders’ (2001) forms-of-capital model of immigrant incorporation by including transnational networks, practices, and identities. To highlight the diversity in incorporation paths, I use ideal types, which I contrast with qualitative data from 49 semi-structured interviews with Mexican-American children and members of their network that I collected in Zacatecas during the summer of 2017. In the third paper, “Transnational networks in the community and the incorporation of foreign-born children of return migrants in their ancestral land. The case of Mexican-American children in Mexico”, I use a mixed-methods approach to analyze how transnational community networks influence school enrollment among Mexican-American children. I find that Mexican- American children in areas with a strong migration tradition are more likely to attend school than those in areas with less migration. I suggest normalization, social support, and institutionalization of resources as the mechanisms behind that connection. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Maria de Lourdes Ramirez Flores was born and raised in Mexico City. Before her time at Cornell she worked in consulting in Mexico City. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico. v To Michiel, Mom, and Adriana vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to express my most profound appreciation for my advisors, Filiz Garip and Victor Nee. I am indebted to Filiz for her support, feedback, advice, and kind words. Filiz has been a source of inspiration as a researcher. She inspired me to understand Mexican migration from a human perspective, and to look at problems in a creative manner. I will always be grateful for her support and encouragement. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Victor Nee for his guidance with the literature of immigration and assimilation; and his incredible kindness and understanding words. Victor inspired me to think about immigrant assimilation with sociological curiosity and scientific rigor. This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and guidance of Richard Swedberg and Matthew Hall. I am indebted to Richard Swedberg for his guidance and support throughout my doctoral program. Thank you for telling me that I should “allow myself to be surprised.” Last, but not least, I would like to thank Matthew Hall for his advice with the literature on immigration and immigrant incorporation. I want to thank Hector Velez and Ana Haskins for their help with my doctoral studies and for encouraging me at difficult times. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family and friends. I was able to write this dissertation because of their love, continued patience, and endless support. I am especially indebted to my husband Michiel, to my mother, my sister, and my dear friends Amelia, and Amui. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Contents ...................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ................................................................................................................. 12 When Things Go South: Economic Shocks and Changes in the Composition of Return Migration. ................................................................................................................................. 29 Mi casa es tu casa? [My House Is Your House?]: Transnational Practices and the Integration of Children of Return Migrants in their Ancestral Country. .................................. 80 Transnational Networks in the Community and the Incorporation of Foreign-Born Children of Return Migrants in their Ancestral Land. The Case of Mexican-American Children in Mexico................................................................................................................................ 132 Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 195 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Deportations by fiscal year (Mexican v. all citizenships). ICE data taken from the Transactions, Records, Access, Clearinghouse (TRAC) project from Syracuse University website. ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Figure 2. Returnees to Mexican households. Data from the 2005-2012 ENOE panel datasets using INEGI methodology to estimate return migration. Estimates are my own. ...... 49 Figure 3. Gender composition of returnees to Mexican households. Data from the 2005- 2012 ENOE panel datasets using INEGI methodology to estimate return migration. Estimates are my own. .............................................................................................................................. 56 Figure 4. Gap statistic method to determine the number of clusters in the analysis. .. 60 Figure 5. Clusters of return migrants to Mexican households. Data from ENOE 2005- 2012, estimations are my own. ................................................................................................. 62 Figure 6. Changes in the composition of return migration: percentage of each cluster of the total return migration flows. Data from ENOE 2005-2012, estimations are my own. ....... 62 Figure 7. Changes in the number of return migrants per year. Data: subsample of ENOE described in the data section (n=26,000). ................................................................................. 63 Figure 8. Elbow method simulation to determine the optimal number of clusters. .... 79 Figure 9. Silhouette method simulation to determine the optimal number of clusters.79 Figure 10. Return migrants to Mexican households (2005 - 2015).Source: 2005-2005 panel data constructed using the National Occupation and Employment (ENOE). Taken from the Yearbook of Migration and Remittances Mexico 2016 (p. 88). The 2015 figure is an estimate..................................................................................................................................... 91 Figure 11. Age distribution of return migrants 2009 – 2014. Source: National Survey of Demographic Dynamics 2014 (Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica, ENADID). Taken from the Yearbook of Migration and Remittances Mexico 2016 (p. 82). ..................... 91 9 Figure 12. Reasons for return from the US 2009 2014. Source: INEGI. National Survey of Demographic Dynamics 2014 (Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica, ENADID) (INEGI, 2015, p. 11) ................................................................................................................ 92 Figure 13. Age distribution of Mexican and Mexican-American children in Mexico. Source: 2015 Intercensal Survey (INEGI). Estimates my own. ............................................... 93 Figure 14. A theoretical framework to understand the role of transnationalism on the integration children of transnational populations in their ancestral home................................ 98 Figure 15. Ideal types of families by transnational engagement and class................ 102 Figure 16. Return migration from the US to Mexico (2005 - 2015). Source: ENOE. ................................................................................................................................................ 147 Figure 17. Age or retutn, by gender. Source: National Survey of Demographic Dynamics 2014 (Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica, ENADID). Taken from the Yearbook of migration and remittances Mexico 2016 (p. 82). .............................................. 147 Figure 18. Reasons for return (2009-2014). Source: INEGI. National Survey of Demographic Dynamics 2014 (Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica,