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Title: Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2011

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Abstract: The US immigration debate focuses overwhelmingly on immigrants from Latin America, particularly from Mexico and Central America. This is not surprising in light of the rapid growth in their numbers since 1970-a period during which the overall US immigrant population increased four-fold, and the Mexican migration from the Western Hemisphere and the ending of the guest worker programs of the mid-20th century, in combination with increased demand for low-skilled labor, have meant that a substantial share of the immigrant population from Mexico and Central America is unauthorized. The visibility of these new inflows has been further enhanced by the fact that more are settling in the states that previously had little or no immigration from this region (e.g. Georgia, Colorado, and North Carolina). Compared to the US born and other immigrant groups, Mexican and Central American immigrants are younger, more likely to be male, and more likely to be married with children, most of whom are native-born US citizens. They have lower education levels than the US born, and Mexicans in particular have the lowest levels of formal education of any immigrant group. Both Mexican and Central American immigrants also have lower levels of English language proficiency than other immigrants. Their workforce participation rates are very high, but concentrated in low-paying jobs; as a consequence, Mexican and Central American immigrants earn incomes lower than other foreign-born groups and substantially lower than their US-born counterparts. About a quarter of Mexican, Honduran, and Guatemalan immigrants live below the poverty line. The fact that a high proportion of immigrants from Mexico and Central America are unauthorized supersedes all other considerations for some stakeholders in the debate, and sharply constrains these immigrants' economic, social, and political opportunity structures.Second-generation Mexicans and Central Americans (those born in the country to first-generation immigrants) have higher education levels and higher household incomes than their parents. They also have somewhat lower labor force participation rates, and a smaller gender gap in employment. These trends make their labor market profile more similar (though not equal) to that of US-born non-Hispanic whites. There is evidence that second-generation Mexican Americans, in particular, lag behind their counterparts from other countries.

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Authors: Rosenblum, Marc R.; Challinor, A.E.; Brick, Kate

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Institution: Migration Policy Institute

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Publisher Location: Washington, D.C.

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity

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