Mexican Migrant Integration in the United States, 1965–2015

• Author: David P. Lindstrom
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716219856878
• Published date: 01 July 2019
• Date: 01 July 2019

ANNALS, AAPSS, 684, July 2019 85

DOI: 10.1177/0002716219856878

Mexican

Migrant

Integration in

the United

States,

1965–2015

By

DAVID P. LINDSTROM

856878ANN The Annals of The American AcademyMexican Migrant Integration in the United States

research-article2019

This article uses 20 years of survey data from the

Mexican Migration Project to describe how the experi-

ences of Mexico-U.S. migrants have changed over time.

I use survey questions about migrants’ experiences on

their last U.S. trip to develop composite indices of six

integration domains, and then estimate random inter-

cept linear regression models with individual-, family-,

and community-level characteristics to explain varia-

tions in Mexican migrant integration. I find that, over

time, Mexican migrant linguistic and social integration

has steadily increased, whereas integration in other

family and economic domains changed little or not at

all. Results from the multivariate models show the

importance of human capital to integration across the

multiple domains. Higher education, more time spent

in the country of destination, and being male are all

strongly associated with higher levels of integration. I

also find evidence that both family and community

migration networks facilitate integration.

Keywords: immigration; integration; assimilation;

Mexico; U.S.

Mexican migration to the United States has

evolved over the last 75 years from a cir-

cular flow of predominantly men working in

seasonal agriculture and other low-skilled occu-

pations to a diverse population of temporary

migrant men working alongside long-term and

settled immigrant men, women, and families

(Massey, Durand, and Malone 2002; Riosmena

and Massey 2012). Numerically, the number of

Mexican-born persons in the United States has

grown from 0.5 million in 1950 to approxi-

mately 11.5 million in 2013 (Lowell, Perderzini,

Correspondence: David_Lindstrom@brown.edu

David P. Lindstrom is a professor of sociology and a

faculty associate of the Population Studies and Training

Center, Brown University. His research examines

the determinants and consequences of migration in

economically developing societies, the transition into

adulthood, and the changing dynamics of reproductive

health and behavior.

86 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

and Passel 2006, 2; López 2015, 1). While there is a growing literature on the

trajectories of settled immigrants and their children with respect to economic

status (Connor and Massey 2010; Hall, Greenman, and Farkas 2010), educational

attainment (Baum and Flores 2011; Portes and Rivas 2011; Rumbaut and

Komaie 2010; Suarez-Orozco etal. 2011), and health (Singh, Rodriguez-Lainz,

and Kogan 2013), little is known about the daily experiences and social interac-

tions of recent arrivals, long-term migrants, and returned migrants in Mexico,

and how their incorporation into U.S. society has changed over time.

Anti-immigrant policies and movements at local and national levels affect all

Mexican migrants in the United States (see Butz and Kehrberg 2016; Jaret 1999;

Muste 2013; Wilson 2000; Ybarra, Sanchez, and Sanchez 2016), yet little is

known about how rising nativism is affecting the incorporation of recent migrants

(Salas, Ayón, and Gurrola 2013). In this study, I use 20 years of survey data from

the Mexican Migration Project (MMP) to follow trends over time in a dataset that

includes the experiences of long-term, settled, and returned Mexico-U.S.

migrants. I use questions about migrants’ experiences on their last U.S. trip to

develop composite indices of six integration domains (linguistic, social, family,

employment, financial, and assets), and then estimate random intercept linear

regression models with individual-, family-, and community-level characteristics

to explain cross-sectional and longitudinal variation in Mexican migrant integra-

tion. The MMP is one of the few, if not the only, data sources for studying the

integration experiences of recently arrived, long-term, and settled Mexico-U.S.

migrants alongside returned migrants. Migrant integration experiences likely

shape subsequent decisions about settlement versus return and the migration of

other family members. Understanding the trend in Mexican migrant experiences

over the last five decades offers insights into potential future trends.

Background

Immigration is transforming the demographic and ethnic profile of many high-

income countries. In the United States, Canada, and most of Europe, immigrants

constitute 10 to 20 percent of the national populations (United Nations 2017).

Young immigrants and the children of immigrants often constitute an even larger

proportion of the youth populations in these countries. The successful integration

of immigrants and their children is a major policy concern in host countries

(Kurthen and Heisler 2009). The human capital that immigrants possess, the

conditions under which they arrive, and the degree to which they become lin-

guistically and socially integrated impact processes of labor market insertion and

wage determination (Connor and Massey 2010; Hall, Greenman and Farkas

2010), health outcomes (Singh, Rodriguez-Lainz, and Kogan 2013), and, most

importantly for the future, the educational success of their children (Baum and

Flores 2011; Crosnoe 2005; Portes and Rivas 2011, Suárez et al. 2011). How

immigrants become a part of the host society has repercussions not only for the

immigrant generation and their children, but for the host society as well.