Abstract
This chapter examines changes in the characteristics of contemporary return migration to Mexico in a period dominated by tighter border controls and rising levels of involuntary, and therefore unplanned, return migration. We use the complete set of individual and household records of the 2005 Population Count of Mexico to establish a reliable benchmark against which to compare previous and subsequent migration patterns observed in the Mexican censuses and counts of 1995 and 2000 and, to a more limited extent, the 2010 Mexican Census. Our data suggest that individuals returning to Mexico today are choosing a different set of destination locales than in the past, in which returnees primarily returned to small rural communities in the Center-West of Mexico. In particular, they are now increasingly attracted to border cities, prosperous small towns, and growing metropolitan areas in Mexico. These attractive destinations for return appear to be less dependent on prior patterns of out-migration than on emerging patterns of economic opportunity within Mexico.
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Notes
- 1.
The return migration rate can only be calculated at the state level and by type of locality in terms of its population size because of the sampling limitations of the 10 percent sample of the 2000 Census.
- 2.
Most of those removed without an order of removal are apprehended by the US Border Patrol, so these figures may overestimate the number of people by counting the several attempts of one person to cross. Note, however, that no information is gathered about the time the deportee spent in the USA and whether or not they were deported previously.
- 3.
Intercensal returnees are those living in the USA 5 years previous to the Count or Census and now back in Mexico.
- 4.
Approximately 50 detailed interviews were done by researchers from CIESAS del Occidente (Elizabeth Perez and, Daniela Jiménez), the Colegio de Michoacan (Marcelo Zamora), and the University of Texas at Austin (Josh Greene).
- 5.
In 2005, there were 5471 five-year-old returnees, 4695 six-year-old returnees, and 4209 seven-year-old returnees. Children 10 years and under make up only 9 percent of the returnees.
- 6.
The Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) most often provides social security for people employed in the formal sector. Other providers of public social security are the Institute of Social Security for Workers of the State (ISSSTE), Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), and the Mexican ministries of Defense or Navy, whereas private social security paid by individuals may be from Seguro Popular or another private institution. In some cases, children or other family members may receive social security as a beneficiary from the insurance of their parents or siblings. Additionally, individuals may receive social security from more than one source.
- 7.
Publications from INEGI report a total number of 267,150 returnees for 2000 and give the totals by state and size of locality. However, the weighted data from the 10 percent sample of the 2000 Population Census provides an estimation of 260,650 returnees because it does not include all the localities.
- 8.
In the calculation of the rate of return, we exclude those migrants who left for the USA before 2000 from the denominator. Also, a lagged effect should be noted, since the returnees counted in the 2005 Count may come from older migration waves; in addition, the period division is somewhat arbitrary.
- 9.
This result is even stronger if we remember that out-migration from traditional states was very high in the past.
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Masferrer, C., Roberts, B.R. (2016). The Changing Patterns of Return Migration from the USA to Mexico and Their Policy Implications. In: Leal, D., Rodríguez, N. (eds) Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession. Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24445-7_12
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