Illegal Immigration and Enforcement Along the U.S.-Mexico Border: An Overview - Economic and Financial Review, First Quarter, 2001 - Dallas Fed

2 The U.S.–Mexico border is experiencing an era of unparalleled trade and exchange. But at a time when legal flows of goods and people are at historical highs, so are illegal cross-border flows of undocumented migrants. Illegal immigration from Mexico became more common in the late 1960s, following the end of the Bracero Program in 1964. The Bracero Program allowed Mexican guest workers to work legally in the United States. Over the past three decades, illegal immigration along the Southwest border has increased, and enforcement efforts have intensified as a result. Border apprehensions have grown from 200,000 in 1970 to more than 1.5 million in 1999. The cumulative impact of this immigrant flow is a sizable illegal immigrant population. The undocumented immigrant population from Mexico was estimated at 3.1 million in 1997. Mexicans make up about 60 percent of the total undocumented population of the United States, and Central Americans from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua make up another 13 percent (U.S. INS 1999). Whereas some undocumented immigrants arrive legally and simply overstay their tourist visas, the majority of illegal Mexican and Central American immigrants residing in the United States cross the border without documents. It is estimated that the net inflow of illegal immigrants from Mexico, excluding short-term cyclical migrants, averaged about 202,000 immigrants per year between 1987 and 1996. This article evaluates the determinants of illegal Mexico–U.S. migration and gives an overview of enforcement and policy responses. Many observers, noting the large number of illegal immigrants, have concluded that border enforcement provides little deterrent. Some research supports this view. Singer and Massey (1998) show declining apprehension rates along the border in the 1980s and early 1990s. Other research shows that apprehended migrants simply attempt additional border crossings until they succeed—also suggesting increased enforcement has little impact (Kossoudji 1992). On the other hand, there is evidence increased border enforcement is correlated with falling wages for young males in Mexican border cities (Hanson, Robertson, and Spilimbergo 1999). This could imply that tougher border enforcement has the effect of trapping would-be immigrants on the Mexican side of the border. Publicized reports about the increase in migrant deaths also imply that tougher border enforcement sends migrants on circuitous routes into the United States (Nevins 2000, Rosenblum Illegal Immigration and Enforcement Along the U.S.–Mexico Border: An Overview