Channelization of Undocumented Mexican Migrants to the U.S.

Abstract

Undocumented migration from Mexico, which has accellerated markedly over the last ten years, has stimulated enough research that it is now possible to generalize about geographic distributions of migrants in Mexico and in the United States. Such migration is a widespread phenomenon in Mexico, with a majority of states participating significantly. In the U.S., however, only a few states are significant recipients of undocumenteds, with California, Texas, and Illinois accounting for almost nine-tenths of the total. Undocumented migration tends to be strongly channelized between specific Mexican and U.S. subregions. Texas and California have documented in-migration fields which differ in their locations, in the role of distance in their configurations, and in the factors which generate the flows. These channelized flows are tied to historical and economic forces, and they cannot be simply turned off by restrictive border policies on the part of the United States.