Patterns and reasons of the migration from Central America and Mexico to the United States (i)

Migration policy is of huge interest in the Central and North American regions. In the United States, a nation built by immigrants, there are immigrants from different countries, religions and cultures. Latin American immigrants are one of the largest groups making about 46 percent of the total immigrant population, according to the Census Bureau.

   Over the years, the U.S. has reinforced its migration laws and physical borders (especially the frontier with Mexico) in order to cease immigrants from the South to enter the country. Nevertheless, in spite of all the efforts, massive migration seems almost impossible to stop. The reasons: unemployment, insecurity, poverty, political prosecution and income inequality in the countries of origin, just to mention the principal ones. The Mexican and Central American governments find it very difficult to stop their populations from walking away to the North. 

   This is a very important topic to be addressed in the Central and North American region, not only because of its economic, political and social implications, but also because of how sensitive it is for all those people whose families are separated every day when a member of the family decides to go and look for a better future, or when the US government decides to deport some members of a family that was formed in American soil, separating them. Immigrants also face many more challenges like human rights abuses and work exploitation.

   Policy makers know that migration has an effect at the national scale and can affect the social, political and economic spheres, not only of the sending, but also of the receiving countries. Over the history, migration has strengthen economic growth, the formation of nations and the enrichment of cultures. It can begin by improving the life of the immigrant himself, his family, his community and eventually his country. But it can also have other effects, for example, remittances could make some people lose interest in working for a low salary and affect the labor supply.

   There have been diverse migration waves over the history associated with motivations such as conflicts, nation-building, economic expansion or depression, persecution, natural disasters, or simply as part of populating the Earth. But we will limit ourselves with migration during the last three decades towards the United States as a country that turned into a popular target for those seeking new possibilities.

   Mass migration from Central America and Mexico to the United States is not very likely to stop in the short term in spite of the drastic policies executed, the repression, discrimination and continuous violations to the human rights of the immigrants even when they are there legally. People continue to risk their lives leaving everything behind with a goal in mind: the “American dream”. The main question is what to do? And then we ask questions such as: Is it possible to keep the populations in their home country, eluding migration? Will the Mexican and Central American governments ever be able to control migration to the United States? Should the United States prohibit entirely unauthorized migration, or should they be more flexible? Who loses more in case of restrictive migration policies? 

 Source: Decennial censuses, 1900 to 2010; American Community Survey, 2010 in Camarota, Steven (2012). Immigrants in the United States. A profile of America’s Foreign Born Population. Center for Immigration Studies.

   Currently, immigrants comprise 13 percent of the total U.S. population, and Latino immigrants make about 46 percent of the total immigrant population, according to the Census Bureau’s 2010 and 2011 American Community Survey. It is estimated that 28 percent of all immigrants in the U.S. are there illegally. And nearly half of the Mexican and Central American immigrants are there illegally. Among the top sending countries, the largest percentage increase in the last decade was from Honduras (85 percent), India (74 percent), Guatemala (73 percent), El Salvador (49 percent), and China (43 percent) (Camarota, 2012).

   The increase in the rise of the immigrant population has been very remarkable especially since the 1970s: the immigrants in 2010 doubled that of 1990, and almost tripled that of 1980. The last decade has been the highest in terms of immigrants’ arrivals in the U.S. history and the impact of this on many areas of the sending and the receiving countries is undeniable. But what exactly is this impact? Is it negative or is it positive? Why? It is difficult for any country to attempt to incorporate 40 million newcomers into its society. Should the U.S. legalize them? Or should they remove them? Should they stop migration completely? How?  As Hellman points out, ironically the billions of dollars invested in strengthening the boarders are far from dissuading immigrants, on the contrary, it motivates the immigrants who are already in to stay (Hellman, 2011). The logic of the U.S. policy makers is that migration will decrease when the potential immigrants realize that the costs and dangers of attempting to settle in the U.S. are bigger than the possible benefits of migrating. However, boarder enforcement is unlikely to change migrant’s decision to enter the United States. 

   It is not easy to classify migrants because there are many reasons for them to migrate, however Koser attempts to classify migrants into three categories: a) those who can be distinguished between voluntary or forced migrants (usually refugees); b) those who can be differentiated according to their motives, such as political reasons (usually refugees) or economic reasons (low skilled and high skilled migrants); and c) those who are differentiated between legal and illegal migrants. Though some people argue that the term “illegal” is not adequate and instead the term “irregular” should be used, which covers those people who enter a country without documents or with fake documents and those who enter legally and stay in the country after their visa expires (Koser, 2007).

Dott.ssa Ana Figueroa