Impacts of the 1986 US Immigration Law on Emigration from Rural Mexican Sending Communities

Abstract

From the perspective of traditional labor-exporting communities in rural Mexico this article examines how the 1986 US Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) has affected perceptions of the US labor market the propensity to migrate settlement patterns in the US and the economies of migrant families and their home communities. The analysis draws upon sample survey interviews conducted in 1988-1989 in 3 communities located in the states of Jalisco Michoacan and Zacatecas. The data reveal that most residents--including prospective 1st-time undocumented migrants to the US--continue to view US labor markets as relatively accessible with or without legal entry documents even though employer sanctions have increased the perceived difficulty of finding work in the US. IRCA-mandated legalization programs have augmented the total flow of US-bound migrants from traditional sending communities while sharply reducing the relative size of the undocumented component. Through its amnesty programs the 1986 law is also increasing the representation of women and children in the migrant flow and accelerating the shift from temporary or shuttle migration to permanent settlement in the US. (authors)