Migrants Need a Way to Go Home

Many people worry that President Bush’s proposal to grant temporary work visas to undocumented immigrants will reward “lawbreakers,” encourage more migration down the road and raise the costs to American taxpayers. A look at history helps answer these concerns.

Mexicans now make up more than two-thirds of undocumented migrants. With the exception of a short break during the Depression, Mexicans have been migrating to the United States continuously since the early 1900s. Before World War I, they were recruited by private businesses, but when the U.S. entered the war the government set up its own recruitment program for Mexican workers. And once immigration from southern and Eastern Europe was restricted by Congress in 1920, immigration from Mexico surged.

This early flow of Mexican immigrants was ended only by a decade of joblessness in the 1930s and a massive deportation campaign. After the U.S. entered World War II, it renewed labor recruitment and continued to expand it until the 1960s, by which time millions of Mexicans had acquired the knowledge and social connections they needed to migrate on their own. From 1965 to 1985, undocumented migration to the U.S. fluctuated with the rhythms of the Mexican and American economies and increased at a slow but steady pace.

But despite alarmist rhetoric, the border was never “out of control.” Most Mexicans migrated to solve economic problems at home, intending to return. Over two decades they repatriated millions of dollars to finance home construction, business formation and product consumption, and 85% of those who entered the country ultimately went back home.

Beginning in 1986, however, the U.S. adopted a schizophrenic policy toward Mexico. On the one hand, Washington sought to create an integrated North American market with free movement for goods, capital, information and services. On the other hand, the U.S. devoted more time and money to prevent the movement of labor.

We wanted to integrate all markets except one: labor. From 1986 to 2002, the U.S. Border Patrol went from 2,000 to 12,000 officers, and its budget rose from $200 million to $1.3 billion.

Unfortunately, expanded border enforcement did not reduce the rate of undocumented entry. It did, however, dramatically decrease the chance of return migration, bringing about unprecedented growth in the undocumented population in the U.S. The same number of people entered, but being reluctant to face new costs and risks of border-crossing, they didn’t go home. Rather, they stayed longer and arranged for the entry of family members. Militarizing the border transformed a circular movement of workers into a settled population of dependents.

Which is why we need a legalization program. The migrants are already here. They are staying longer than they really want to, and their undocumented status and large numbers carry serious costs for the U.S.

Offering undocumented migrants temporary work visas would allow them to return home and contribute to Mexico’s development while reducing the burden on the U.S. Fear and suspicion will keep many undocumented migrants from coming forward unless the guest worker program is accompanied by a broader amnesty and the creation of a longer-term mechanism for legalization. Although the vast majority of Mexican migrants intend to return home, many at this point have acquired strong ties to the U.S. and need a way to adjust their status to permanence. Because the last amnesty was 18 years ago, the population of undocumented residents is very large, possibly as high as 8 million.

We also should expand the legal quota for Mexican immigration. The current limit of 20,000 permanent resident visas per year for a peaceful border country of 105 million linked to the U.S. by treaty is ridiculously small. We should create a permanent pathway to legalization for temporary workers so the minority who make repeated trips and acquire ties north of the border can earn points toward achieving legal residence.

These steps would reduce the number of settled migrants in the U.S., lower the costs of immigration and boost economic growth and development in Mexico. The system we have now offers the worst of all possible worlds: massive in-migration, little out-migration and the accumulation of a costly, marginalized population north of the border. We have little to lose by trying something different.

Douglas S. Massey is a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University and coauthor of “Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Age of Economic Integration” (Russell Sage Foundation, 2002).