Controlling Immigration: What Oaxacan Migrants Can Tell Us

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Controlling Immigration What Oaxacan Migrants
Can Tell Us Wayne CorneliusCenter for
Comparative Immigration Studies University of
California-San Diego
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Tunkas, Yuc.
Tlacuitapa, Jal.
San Miguel Tlacotepec. Oax.
Migrant-sending towns being studied by CCIS
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CCIS field research team, 2007-08
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Primary research siteSan Miguel Tlacotepec,
Oaxaca
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821 survey interviews completed, Dec. 2007-Feb.
2008
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34 life history interviews in San Miguel
Tlacotepec
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Interviewing Tlacotepensesin Vista, Calif.
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• San Miguel Tlacotepec
• Pre-Columbian origins
• Indigenous community, but only 18 know any
  Mixteco
• Remote location, 6 hours drive from
  Oaxaca City

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A mature, high-emigration community, in 2nd
generation of migration to the U.S. Lost 353
people due to emigration, 1995-1999 Lost 712
people due to emigration, 2000-2004 Remaining
population in 2005 1,696
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Birth rate in 2005 3.8 children per woman (not
enough to preventpopulation decline, givenhigh
out-migration)
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Increasingly,a town of oldmen, women, and
young children
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Most men age 20-50 are working in United States
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Many SMT women in work in agriculture
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• An agriculture-based economy
• Unmechanized, subsistence agriculture
• Very little irrigation, crops depend on
  seasonal rains
• Small plots of land, many of which are idle due
  to emigration

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Corn is main crop, mostly for household and
livestock consumption
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Considerable poverty, sharp income inequalities
poorest are families with no U.S. connections
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Well-off families have members working in U.S.,
receivecash remittances, build houses financed
by U.S. earnings
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U.S. influences include vehicles purchased in San
Diego
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and D-Jays trained and equipped in San Diego
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SMTs economy depends on cash remittances from
U.S.
72 of Tlacotepense migrants sent money to
relativesin SMT during their most recent stay in
the U.S.
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47 of all adults inSan Miguel
Tlacotepecreceive cash remittancesfrom
relatives in U.S.Used for food
otherhousehold expenses(62),
childrenseducation (11), building/improvingho
uses (7), buyingclothes (4), medicines
medical care (4),paying debts (3) Remittances
decliningdue to poor U.S. economy
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Tlacotepenses are ambivalent about impacts of
migration to the U.S. on their town
Has migration to the U.S. benefited or harmed
the townseconomy? Benefited 70 Harmed 30
Has migration to the U.S. benefited or
harmed the customsand ways of life in San Miguel
Tlacotepec? Benefited 40 Harmed 60
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SMTs isolation is beingreduced by
moderntechnology cell phonesand computers
Computer center in San Miguel Tlacotepec
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Computer literacy is rising, Internet culture is
taking hold
22 of Tlacotepenses (in SMT Vista) have
e-mail 21 of Tlacotepenses (in SMT) have used
computers in kiosk center for Internet
access70 of Tlacotepenses in Vista have a
computer at home 46 of Tlacotepenses in Vista
have a home Internet connection
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• Average Tlacotepense adult has completed 7
  years of schooling (vs. their father
  completed 3 years, mother 2 years)
• Most dropped out of school due to lack of money
  for school expenses (36) or need to work to
  support family (26)
• 66 want their children to complete university
• But Keeping children in school after junior
  high is very difficult due to lure of
  migration

Elementary schoolclass in SMT
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Migration flows from San Miguel Tlacotepec,
Oaxaca
1950-60 Veracruz, Mexico City 1960-70 Baja
California 1970-present San Diego
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Among all adult Tlacotepenses, 37 have migrated
to U.S. Most important reason for
migration Higher wages in U.S. 26 More jobs
in U.S. 21 Build a house in
Mexico 18 Reunite with relatives 16 Start
business in Mexico 7 Adventuring, to know
U.S. 6 Other 6 Did you leave San
Miguel Tlacotepec because thingswere not going
well for you in the town, or because inthe U.S.
there were more opportunities? Opportunities in
U.S. 78 Conditions in SMT 22
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Tlacotepense working in agriculture in
Oaxaca or Baja California earns (U.S.)
1.50/hr.
Tlacotepense harvesting crops in California earns
8.00-8.50/hr.
1 hr. in CA 1 day in Mexico
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Tlacotepenses in Vista, Calif.
Fund-raiser in Vista for annual fiesta of St.
Michael the Archangel.Sept. 29, 2007 fiesta in
Vista attracted over 600 Tlacotepenses.
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Valente Martinez, age 72, first Tlacotepense in
Vista

• Irregular rains caused his corn crop in SMT to
  fail
• Migrated to Ensenada, Baja Calif., to find work
• Moved on to Tijuana, met friend who had worked
  for a farmer in Vista
• Arrived in Vista in 1973 brought brothers and
  other family members

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Vista, Calif. Not a Welcoming Environment for
Migrants
Anti-immigration demonstration in
Vista, October 2006
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Considerable fear of deportation among
undocumented Tlacotepenses in Vista

• Occasional presence of Border Patrol agents
  and San Diego Minutemen (vigilantes) on
  Vista streets
• Local police activity can lead to apprehension
  by Border Patrol
• Anti-day laborer ordinance passed by Vista city
  council, 2006
• Anti-immigration legislation passed by
  Congress, 2006-07
• Anti-immigration presidential candidates,
  2007-08

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Pew Hispanic Center,Dec. 2007 nationalsurvey of
Latino population
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What can Oaxacan migrants tell us about U.S.
immigration policy?
How do they perceive U.S. policy? How do they
experience it in their own lives? How do they
respond to the policy?
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What is the policy? Spend more on border
enforcement!
Concentrated borderenforcement era
Amount spent on border enforcement,
FY1993-2008 30 billion
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Phase I Increased Manpower and Physical
Obstacles
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U.S. Border Patrol has tripled in size
14,923 agents by end of FY 2007
Source U.S. Government Accountability Office,
report GAO-07-997T (June 2007)
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• Operation Jump Start (started June 15, 2006)
• Up to 6,000 National Guard troops deployed to
  southwest border, by presidential order
• Currently about 3,000 deployed

National Guardsman patrols border east of
Nogales, Arizona
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National Guard troops buildborder fence in
Arizona,November 2007
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U.S.
Primary fence
MEXICO
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Stadium-type lighting on U.S.-Mexico border,
east of San Ysidro, Calif.
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Latest generation of border fencing,San Diego
sector
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Steel-tube fence in Altar Valley, Arizona
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Sealing the BorderSecure Fence Act of 2006
700 miles of new fencingTotal miles of fenced
border, Feb. 2008 302 miles ( 15)Goal by
end of 2008 670 miles ( 34)Total length of
U.S.-Mexico border 1,952 miles
Newest section ofborder fence inYuma
Desert,Arizona
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Secure Fence Act of 2006 700 miles of new fencing
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Phase II Remote Video Surveillance
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Border Patrolskybox deployednear Sasabe, AZ
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Border Patrol has a fleet of 4 Predator B
unmanned aerial vehicles (cost 14 million each)
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Phase III Virtual Fence(Secure Border
Initiative)
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Secure Border Initiative

• Up to 2 billion project Dept. of Homeland
  Security contract to Boeing Co.
• 1,800 high-tech towers to be built along
  U.S.-Mexico border (none on Canadian border)
• Equipped with advanced radar systems, video
  surveillance cameras
• Ground sensors to detect movement, sound
• Vehicle barriers
• Small unmanned aerial vehicles to be launched
  from pickup trucks by Border Patrol
• 28-mile pilot segment built in Arizona entire
  project to be completed within 3-6 years

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• What is Project 28?Along a 28-mile segment of
  the Arizona-Mexico border, at a cost of 84
  million, the Boeing Corporation has installed
• Redeployable sensor towers with associated
  sensors to improve alien detection identification
  and classification
• Mobile Command, Control and Communications
  units to enable situation awareness
• Upgrades to Border Patrol vehicles to provide
  mounted laptop computers to enable displays of
  Operational Picture data
• Satellite phones to improve communications
• Rapid Response Transports to increase the speed
  of transportation of illegal immigrants from
  point of capture to processing and detention
  facilities
• Remote-controlled Ground Sensor Systems to
  provide additional security for the redeployable
  sensor towers.

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Increasing penalties for illegal entry Operation
Streamline(zero-tolerance policy of
prosecution and incarceration of apprehended
aliens for 2 weeks to 6 months)
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Operation Streamline in Action

• Tucson Sector Up to 42 prosecutions daily
  (goal 100 cases per day 10 of apprehended
  migrants)
• Yuma Sector Up to 30 prosecutions daily (
  38 of apprehended migrants)
• Sharp decreases in recidivism rate within areas
  where Operation Streamline has been
  implemented (e.g., from 79 to 46 in
  15-mile target area of Tucson sector)

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Main constraints on extending OperationStreamline
are lack of capacity in federalcourts and
detention facilities, and 90/day per migrant
incarceration cost
Immigrant detention center in south Texas
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Displacement of clandestine migration flows from
land borders to maritime borders
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People-smuggling boat interdicted off San Diego
coast, March 12, 2008, with 12 migrants charged
4,500 each
20 people-smugglers boats intercepted or found
washed ashore San Diego County beaches since
August 2007
6th smugglers boat found on Del Mar, Calif.
beach, March 2, 2008
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4 out of 5 undocumented Tlacotepenses hired a
people-smuggler for their most recent border
crossing
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Average people-smuggler fee paid by Tlacotepenses
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Fees charged by people-smugglers have tripled or
quadrupled since 1993, and keep rising

• Average fee paid by Tlacotepenses in 2005-2007
  2,050
• Average fee among those who crossed in 2007
  2,171
• Fee for crossing through legal port-of-entry
  3,500
• Fee for maritime entry 4,000

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Source of funds to pay people-smugglers
Local money-lenderscharge interest of 10 per
month
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People-smugglers take more dangerous routes
around Border Patrol operations
Major Border Patrol Operations
New Migration Routes
SOURCE Cornelius 2005
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Deflection of flows away from central Arizona
in 2006
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Otay Mountains
U.S.-Mexico border
San Diego
Tijuana
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Imperial Valley desert
U.S.
MEXICO
Gulf of California
NW
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Deaths due to unauthorized border
crossingsdetected in U.S.-Mexico borderlands
Over 500 deaths in 2007
Total deaths, 1995-2007 4,500
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Causes of death among unauthorized border
crossers
Environmental causes (hypothermia, dehydration,
sunstroke, asphyxia)
Drowning
Auto accident
Source Mexican Consulates/Mexican Ministry of
Foreign Relations
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Body of Maria Eugenia Martinez, age 32, being
removed from Californias Imperial Valley desert,
July 2005
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All American irrigation canal near Calexico,
Calif.
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Does border enforcement prevent illegal entry?
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• Profile of Unauthorized Migration the U.S. from
  San Miguel Tlacotepec
• On most recent migration to U.S., 87 were
  undocumented
• Among Tlacotepenses living in U.S., 60 are
  currently undocumented
• 82 crossed through the desert or mountains of
  San Diego
• 18 entered through a legal border crossing,
  hidden in vehicle or as passenger in a car

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More unauthorized entriesare being made through
legal ports of entry
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Evading Border Patrol is perceived as difficult

• At present, how easy or difficult is it to
  evade the Border Patrol when crossing the
  border?
• Very difficult 67
• Somewhat difficult 13
• Easy 20

Source CCIS survey ofOaxacan migrants, 2007-08
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Clandestine border crossings are seen as
dangerous

• 91 of Tlacotepeneses believe it is very
  dangerous to cross the border without papers
• 24 of Tlacotepensesknow someone who died
  trying to cross the border
  

Father of migrant who died in Arizona desert in
1998, at sons gravesite
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Awareness of border crossing obstacles, dangers
does not discourage unauthorized migration
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Why take such risks?
We dont care if we have to walk eight days,
fifteen daysit doesnt matter the danger we put
ourselves in. If and when we cross alive, we
will have a job to give our families the best.
Miguel, 28 yr.-old migrant to the
U.S.
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Tougher border enforcement doesnt keep
undocumented migrants out of United States
Source CCIS surveys of migrants in four rural
Mexican sending communities and U.S. receiving
communities, 2005-2008.
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Eventual success rates among Oaxacan unauthorized
migrants,by year of most recent trip to the
border
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IDENT Automated Biometric Identification System
Analysis of data collected by Border Patrol from
apprehended migrants showsProbability of
apprehension in FY 05 and FY 06
33Probability of success on the 2nd or 3rd try
for migrants apprehended at least once 90
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Border Patrol agent sign-cutting nearTecate,
California
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Southwest Border Apprehensions
FY 07 871,277
FY 94 1,031,668
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• Total (borderwide) apprehensions in FY 2006
  Decreased by 8
• Total (borderwide) apprehensions in FY 2007
  Decreased by 20
• FY 2007 Apprehensions of aliens from countries
  other than Mexico Decreased by 37

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Alternative explanations for fewer Southwest
border apprehensions in 2006-07

• Reduced circularity Fewer return trips fewer
  apprehensions (if migrants arent going home,
  they arent getting caught when they return to
  their jobs in U.S.). Fewer apprehensions DONT
  true deterrence/Border Patrol efficacy--
  Migrants are bottled up within U.S. by tougher
  border enforcement. Cost (coyote fees) physical
  risks of reentry are prohibitively high.--
  Migrants are delaying return trips in
  anticipation of amnesty legislation, dont want
  to jeopardize their eligibility by being
  apprehended at border
• Increased use of coyotes higher probability of
  successful entry coyotes eventually will find
  new routes/modes of entry
• More crossings being made through legal ports of
  entry, concealed in vehicles or using false docs
  lower probability of apprehension (over 224
  million crossings made annually through POES on
  US-Mexico border 105,000 people pass through San
  Diego/San Isidro port daily close scrutiny
  impossible)
• Less U.S. demand for labor U.S. home
  construction industry is depressed, jobs magnet
  is diminished

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Undocumented immigrants living in
the U.S.
Concentrated borderenforcement
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U.S. unauthorized immigrant population
(2007)Estimated number 12 million
30 of total
foreign-born population__________________________
______________________ Composition of
unauthorized population Clandestine
entrants 55 Visa over-stayers
45 Source Pew Hispanic Center, Washington,
D.C.
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Tlacotepenses are bottled up within the U.S.

• During last 5 years, where did you spend
  most time? United States 60 San Miguel
  Tlacotepec 38During last 5 years, how many
  times did you return to SMT? Average 1.5
  return visits
• Last September (2007), did you return to SMT
  for the annual town fiesta? (among those who
  live in U.S.) No 83
• In the last year, have any of your
  relatives stayed in the U.S. because of tighter
  border enforcement? Yes 61

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• Circular migration has declined sharply, as
  costs and risks of illegal entry have
  risen
• Among undocumented Tlacotepenses, it took 3.4
  months after arriving in U.S. to pay off
  debt to smuggler
• More Tlacotepenses are extending their stays
  or settling permanently in U.S.
• House construction in SMT by U.S. migrants is
  down sharply
• Whole families increasingly migrate together,
  leaving houses in SMT vacant
• Alternative is very long family separations,
  with wives and children left in SMT

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• Male family heads, anticipating long stays in
  U.S., bring dependents to U.S. more quickly
  after arrival

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Basic supply and demand forces are undermining
border enforcement

• Strong U.S. demand for immigrant labor, at all
  skill levels
• Extremely limited worksite enforcement, which has
  no impact on demand for unauthorized migrant
  labor
• Huge real-wage gap between Mexico and the United
  States (81 - 101 for most low-skilled jobs)
• Family ties with U.S. promote migration for
  family reunification (in high-emigration towns
  in Mexico, 85 of residents have at least one
  nuclear family member living in the U.S.)

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Is there a better way?

• Emphasize workplace enforcement over border
  enforcement
• Legalize most unauthorized immigrants already
  here
• Provide more legal entry opportunities for new
  immigrants, through a guestworker program and
  increasing permanent resident visas (green
  cards)
• Create alternatives to emigration in
  migrant-sending areas, through targeted
  development projects

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If there were a new temporary visa program for
Mexican workers, like the bracero program,
would you be interested in participating?
Yes 66
Bracero workers arrive in U.S., 1942
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Unauthorized migrant apprehensions related to
worksite enforcement
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Total employers in U.S. 6 million Employers
believed by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office to use undocumented migrant labor
400,000 Employers using E-Verify system to
screen job applicants 52,000
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New Penalties for Hiring Undocumented Workers

• Minimum fine, 1st offence 375 per worker
• Maximum fine, 1st offense 3,200 per worker
• Maximum fine, repeated offenses
  16,000/worker
• (effective March 27, 2008)

Homeland SecuritySecretary Michael Chertoff
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• Key elements of 2007 U.S. Senate
  immigration reform bill
• Border Security
• 370 miles of additional fencing on U.S.-Mexico
  border
• Increase in Border Patrol to 20,000 agents
• 80 high-tech electronic surveillance towers,
  UAVs, etc.
• Building facilities to incarcerate up to 27,500
  aliens per day Border security triggers must
  be in place before anything else is implemented
• Worksite Enforcement
• Mandatory electronic employee eligibility
  verification system
• Much higher financial penalties for employers
• Guestworker Programs
• 200,000 visas per year, to work in any
  industry 2-year stay, renewable, with 1
  year in home country between each stay
• AgJobs special guestworker program for
  agriculture, up to 1.5 million visas
  during first 5 years
• Legalization of Undocumented Immigrants
• Most undocumented migrants already in U.S.
  eligible for temporary legal status if
  they pay 5,000 fine back taxes owed, pass
  background check
• Eligible to get green card after 8 yrs.,
  U.S. citizenship after 13 years must
  return to home country and reenter U.S. legally
  to qualify for green card
• Permanent legal immigrant admissions
• More than 50 of all green cards to be awarded
  through point system giving most weight to
  occupational skills, higher education, English
  fluency

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Explaining the demand for immigrant labor
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Questions and further informationWayne
CorneliusCenter for Comparative Immigration
Studies, UCSD Tel. [phone]
wcorneli_at_ucsd.eduhttp//www.ccis-ucsd.org
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U.S.-Canada border Wide open spaces
U.S.-Canada border at Churubusco, New York
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U.S.-Canada border at Derby Lane, Vermont
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U.S.-Canada border at Chateaugay, New York
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U.S.-Canada border at Derby Lane, Vermont
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U.S.-Canada border at Perry Mills, New York
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U.S.-Canada border at Trout River, New York
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