Illegal Mexican migration to the U.S. appears to have increased substantially
over the past fifteen years. Most illegal Mexican aliens migrate
with the aim of obtaining better employment opportunities and higher
earnings in the U.S. than are available in Mexico. The potential impacts
of this migration on various U.S. interests, however, are not agreed upon
by scholars in the field. In fact, little empirical data on illegal
Mexican aliens in the U.S. have been collected, especially with regard to
the economic incentives for their migration.
This study is an attempt to obtain empirical data on illegal Mexican
aliens who are employed in the U.S. The principle aim of this research is
to describe a random sample of illegal Mexican aliens surveyed at Hood
River, Oregon, where they were employed in agricultural harvest activities.
Specific attention is placed on the earnings differential for illegal
Mexican aliens in the U.S. and foregone earnings in Mexico as a measure
of the economic incentive for illegal migration.
The study finds that illegal Mexican aliens interviewed at Hood River
generally conform to the demographic profile described in previous studies.
but that the data on their earnings and expenditures are considerably
different. Both wage earnings and living costs in the U.S. appear to
be considerably higher for most illegal Mexican aliens than indicated by
previous studies, and their differential between potential U.S. and
Mexican earnings is substantial. Illegal Mexican aliens at Hood River
had gross earnings of approximately six-times their foregone Mexican
earnings by working in the U.S. for roughly the same period of time.
By accounting for expenses that the illegal aliens face in the U.S.,
this amount is reduced to four-times their foregone earnings.
The study concludes that considerable illegal Mexican migration will
likely continue in the near future and that further research on other
aspects of the phenomenon and in other geographic regions would be useful.
Several specific suggestions for future research are also outlined. / Graduation date: 1980
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/26697 |
| Date | 29 August 1979 |
| Creators | Cuthbert, Richard W. |
| Contributors | Stevens, Joe B. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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