Nativity Status and Its Effects on Income Differentials: The Mexican Origin Case.

Mexican migration to the United States is the largest in the world (Phillips 2000:33). According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), between 1961 and 1998, Mexico sent 4,681,311 immigrants (2000). Over the last several decades, an expanding literature has been developed to understand Mexican immigration to the United States. This body of literature has provided important insights to make sense of the movement of Mexicans between the two countries. In this literature, many scholars have focused not only on the forces encouraging people to migrate, but also the impact that this migration has had on migrants themselves. In particular, a large range of literature has been developed on the economic experience of immigrants once they find themselves in countries of destination like the United States. Unfortunately, in many cases, the economic aspirations driving people's migration decisions are unfulfilled. Part of the reason for this is the type of jobs that Mexican immigrants get, which usually are found in agriculture, services, and manufacturing, and which end up being disqualifying "jobs, with low wages, with a low social status, under very low, difficult and insecure work conditions and with very few opportunities for advancement" (Alarcon 1988:338). Therefore, this paper examines the effect that nativity status has on people's income by comparing the economic attainment of native and the foreign-born Mexican origin men and women in the United States. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]