Full Citation
Title: Send Them Back? The Real Estate Consequences of Repatriations
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2022
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Abstract: During the Great Depression, the United States removed approximately 263,000 Mexicans, including some legal US citizens, from the country. This repatriation was an effort to protect the jobs and earnings of US citizens. Mexicans were singled out for removal because they were one of the largest non-white migrant or ethnic groups in the US and because of prevailing beliefs that they would never integrate into US culture. In this study, economists Gustavo S. Cortes and Vinicios P. Sant’Anna explore the effects of this repatriation event on local real estate markets. Specifically, they look at how the removal of Mexicans influenced the economic recovery of US cities during and after the Great Depression. The authors find that cities from which more people were removed recovered slower than cities from which fewer people were removed. Sending Mexicans and some US citizens of Mexican heritage out of the country reduced new construction rates in cities and slowed the growth of home values and rents across America. These are economic costs that could be weighed against the economic benefits to other groups, but the authors find no clear benefits to native, non-Mexican workers. In sum, this paper indicates that efforts to deport immigrants may have long-lasting and negative effects on communities that experience those losses. Importantly, this paper considers only the economic effects and ignores the ethical implications of such policies. Policymakers should consider both, but the economic case for immigration is clear. Removing immigrants and their children en masse from the country can harm rather than promote the welfare of natives.
Url: https://www.thecgo.org/research/send-them-back/
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Authors: Sant’Anna, Vinicios; Cortes, Gustavo
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Institution: Utah State University
Pages: 1-60
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA - Ancestry Full Count Data, IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity
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