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This article examines continuities and changes in the prevalence and determinants of first migration and return between Mexico and the United States. The results show a dramatic decline over time in the likelihood of migrants' making a first trip. The empirical design distinguishes processes affecting migrating cohorts from those emanating from period conditions, paying particular attention to changes in educational selectivity and the legal status of the flows. The definition of cohort and period corresponds roughly to changes in U.S. migration policy and the American economy. We find that the likelihood of return migration also declined in conjunction with period conditions that are related to border enforcement. The drop in the likelihood of return was particularly sharp for undocumented migrants, and, over time, return flows increasingly consist of documented migrants. The implications of these findings for immigration policy in the United States and for the incorporation of returnees in Mexico are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of the 2007 recession and immigration enforcement policies on Latin American immigrants’ out-migration from the Durham, North Carolina, area—a new immigrant destination. Drawing on an original ethnosurvey collected in 2011, the analysis assesses the extent of out-migration over time, what precipitated the move, and whether individuals returned to their country of origin or migrated within the United States. We find that out-migration more than doubled after the 2007 recession and that migrants overwhelmingly returned to their home countries. While family considerations and accidents accounted for most of the departures before the recession, economic considerations became the dominant drivers of out-migration after 2007. Deportations also grew in number but accounted for a negligible share of all out-migration. Departures were more prevalent among immigrants from Mexico and those with lower educational attainment. Latin American migration, especially from Mexico, continues to be circular, and deportation is a relatively ineffective strategy for immigrant population control when compared to voluntary returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on original survey data to assess the prevalence of perceived discrimination among Latin American immigrants to Durham, North Carolina, a “new immigrant destination” in the Southeastern United States. Even though discrimination has a wide-ranging impact on social groups, from blocked opportunities, to adverse health outcomes, to highlighting and reifying intergroup boundaries, research among immigrant Latinos is rare, especially in new destinations. Our theoretical framework and empirical analysis expand social constructivist approaches that view ethnic discrimination as emerging from processes of competition and incorporation. We broaden prior discussions by investigating the specific social forces that give rise to perceived discrimination. In particular, we examine the extent to which perceptions of unequal treatment vary by gender, elaborating on the situational conditions that differentiate discrimination experiences for men and women. We also incorporate dimensions unique to the contemporary Latino immigrant experience, such as legal status, family migration dynamics, and transnationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though women have long participated in Mexico-U.S. migration studies assessing the labor market implications of international mobility for women are rare. Especially lacking are studies that follow a life-course approach and compare employment trajectories across contexts and in connection with other transitions. Using life-history data collected in Mexico and the U.S., we explore the impact of migration on women's employment, focusing on how the determinants of employment vary across contexts. We show that U.S. residence eliminates or even reverses the employment returns to education found in Mexico and that the constraints imposed on women's work by marriage are actually stronger in the U.S. context. We also explicitly connect migration to other life-course events, documenting how the impact of context varies not only by marital status but also by where women's unions were formed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chicago School of urban sociology and its extension in the spatial assimilation model have provided the dominant framework for understanding the interplay between immigrant social and spatial mobility. However, the main tenets of the theory were derived from the experience of prewar, centralized cities; scholars falling under the umbrella of the Los Angeles School have recently challenged the extent to which they are applicable to the contemporary urban form, which is characterized by sprawling, decentralized, and multinucleated development. Indeed, new immigrant destinations, such as those scattered throughout the American Southeast, are both decentralized and lack prior experience with large-scale immigration. Informed by this debate this paper traces the formation and early evolution of Hispanic neighborhoods in Durham, NC, a new immigrant destination. Using qualitative data we construct a social history of immigrant neighborhoods and apply survey and census information to examine the spatial pattern of neighborhood succession. We also model the sorting of immigrants across neighborhoods according to personal characteristics. Despite the many differences in urban form and experience with immigration, the main processes forging the early development of Hispanic neighborhoods in Durham are remarkably consistent with the spatial expectations from the Chicago School, though the sorting of immigrants across neighborhoods is more closely connected to family dynamics and political economy considerations than purely human capital attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article relies on local area variation in immigration policies, specifically the local implementation of the 287(g) program, and economic conditions to estimate their impact on changes in the size of local Mexican immigrant populations between 2007 and 2009. The author also investigates the impact of the 287(g) program on the employment prospects of low-skilled native black and white workers. The study finds that outside of four influential outliers (Dallas, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Phoenix), there is no evidence that the 287(g) program impacted the size of the Mexican immigrant population. In addition, there is no evidence that immigration enforcement policies mitigated the negative impact of the economic recession on the native population, even in the four outliers where the program was strongly enforced. The author highlights the limited efficacy of immigration enforcement as a way to resolve the issue of the undocumented immigrant population and for altering the employment opportunities of native workers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article outlines a research strategy for studying difficult-to-reach migrant populations that combines community collaboration, targeted random sampling, and parallel sampling in sending and receiving areas. The authors describe how this methodology was applied to the study of gender, migration, and H1V risks among Hispanic migrants in Durham, North Carolina. They illustrate the usefulness of community collaboration for informing survey design and providing a contextual understanding of research findings. They likewise demonstrate the importance of parallel sampling and assess the bias that would have resulted from conducting their study with convenience samples as opposed to a targeted random sampling technique. While the authors describe its application to HIV risks among Hispanic migrants, the methodology can easily be extended to other migrant groups as well as to other sensitive topics pertaining to migration and social adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their importance to women's empowerment and migrant adaptation more generally, the social and cultural processes that determine how gender relations and expectations evolve during the process of migration remain poorly understood. In this article, data from a survey conducted in Durham, North Carolina and four sending communities in Mexico are used to examine how the structures of labor, power, and emotional attachments within the family vary by migration and US. residency, women's human capital endowments, household characteristics, and social support Using both quantitative and qualitative information, the main finding of the study is that the association between migration and gender relations is not uniform across different gender dimensions. The reconstruction of gender relations within the family at the place of destination is a dynamic process in which some elements brought from communities of origin are discarded, others are modified, and still others are reinforced. Results challenge the expectation that migrant women easily incorporate the behavior patterns and cultural values of the United States and illustrate the importance of selective assimilation for understanding the diversity of changes in gender relations that accompany migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the historical and numerical importance of international migration between Paraguay and Argentina, the socioeconomic forces affecting the dynamics of the flow remain largely unexplored. This article contributes to the understanding of migration movements between the Latin American countries by analyzing patterns of labor migration from two Paraguayan communities to Argentina. The analysis separates the process of migration into four segments representing different migration decisions that Paraguayan men face throughout their life course: first trip, first return, recurrent trips, and duration of additional trips. Results confirm that Paraguayan migration to Argentina is closely related to individual characteristics and wealth, the extent of migrant networks and experience, and changes in macroeconomic conditions. The relative importance of these factors on migration varies depending on the aspect of migration under consideration. More generally, the analysis shows that unlike migration between Mexico and the United States, Paraguayan migrants to Argentina tend to be positively selected with respect to educational attainment and skills. This reflects the higher transferability of skills between the two countries and the absence of large urban centers attracting internal migrants in Paraguay. In addition, results show that migration between Paraguay and Argentina is very responsive to fluctuations in macroeconomic conditions, particularly income differentials and peso over-valuation. Government policies oriented towards the regulation of migration flows in the Southern Cone should pay closer attention to the impact of macroeconomic fluctuations on migration decisions, especially in the context of the Mercosur agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Likert-type scales are frequently used in research with different ethnic groups. Differences in cultural response styles and understanding of the scale have long been noted but rarely explored in research. This article presents the authors' experiences in using a Likert-type questionnaire to measure AIDS knowledge among recently arrived Mexican immigrants in the southeastern United States. The questionnaire findings were compared to a qualitative assessment using vignettes to ascertain knowledge of AIDS casual transmission. It was found that a lack of association existed between the respondents' answers to the quantitative AIDS Likert-type scale and the qualitative vignettes. In-depth interviews to understand the problems respondents were having with the scaling (linguistics, format, and wording of the AIDS questionnaire) supported the findings of a lack of association between the two methods of knowledge assessment. The findings suggest that the Likert-type format is confusing for, and does not accurately reflect knowledge in, recently arrived Mexican immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic arguments, quantitative data, and ethnographic case studies are presented to counter popular misconceptions about international labor ruination and its economic consequences in Mexico. The prevailing view is mat Mexico-U.S. migration discourages autonomous economic growth within Mexico, at both the local and national levels, and that it promotes economic dependency. However, results estimated from a multiplier model suggest that the inflow of migradollars stimulates economic activity, both directly and indirectly, and that it leads to significantly higher levels of employment, investment, and income within specific communities and the nation as a whole. The annual arrival of around $2 billion migradollars generates economic activity that accounts for 10 percent of Mexico's output and 3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors analyze the relationship between Hispanic population growth and changes in U.S. rural income inequality from 1990 through 2000. Applying comparative approaches used for urban areas they disentangle Hispanic population growth’s contribution to inequality by comparing and statistically modeling changes in the family income Gini coefficient across four rural county types: established Hispanic, rapidly growing Hispanic, rapidly growing non-Hispanic, and slow-growth or declining counties. Results support perspectives that stress growing social heterogeneity for understanding the contribution of minority population growth to inequality, including changes in human capital and industrial restructuring. The authors find remarkably similar inequality growth across rapidly growing Hispanic and non-Hispanic counties. This suggests that growing rural inequality stems largely from economic expansion and population growth rather than changing Hispanic composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]