LegiStorm

Summary:

History and geography have given Mexico a unique status in the U.S. immigration system, and have made the Mexico-U.S. migration flow the largest in the world. Mexicans are the largest group of U.S. migrants across most types of immigration statuses—a fact that may have important implications for how Congress makes U.S. immigration policy. This report reviews the history of immigration policy and migration flows between the countries and the demographics of Mexicans within the United States. It also analyzes contemporary issues in U.S. immigration policy and the impact Mexico may have on U.S. immigration outcomes. The U.S.-Mexican migration system has passed through four main phases since the early 20th century. Migration flows were limited and mainly short-term prior to the 1920s, and Mexicans were exempted from certain immigration restrictions and admitted as the first U.S. guest workers during World War I. The bilateral "Bracero" temporary worker program marked a second phase, with 4.6 million temporary visas issued to Mexican workers between 1942 and 1964. With the end of the Bracero program and other immigration reforms in 1965, along with social and economic changes in the United States and Mexico, the third stage was marked by growing illegal inflows, eventually leading Congress to pass the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Finally, despite a series of additional enforcement measures, the Mexican population in the United States doubled during each decade since 1970, with unauthorized migrants accounting for a majority of the growth, followed by legal family-based immigration. Today, the Mexico-born population in the United States stands at about 11.7 million people. Compared to other migrants, the Mexican born in the United States are more likely to be unauthorized, be younger, have lower education levels, work in lower-skilled occupations, and have lower measures of economic well-being. In contrast with earlier periods and virtually all other migrants, Mexicans are now dispersed throughout all 50 U.S. states. Given the size of the Mexico-born population in the United States and the 2,000-mile border shared between the two countries, Mexicans and Mexico are uniquely affected by U.S. immigration policies. Mexicans are the largest group of aliens subject to U.S. immigration control and border security policies, the largest group of lawful immigrants within permanent and temporary visa categories, and the majority of unauthorized migrants within the United States. On one hand, Mexico's prominence in the U.S. migration system means that U.S. immigration policy, to varying degrees, primarily affects Mexicans and Mexico. Today's Mexico-U.S. migration flows and the Mexico-born population in the United States are the product of previous immigration policy decisions, as well as of the long and complex history of the U.S. and Mexican economies, labor markets, and demographics. On the other hand, Mexico also remains at the center of today's immigration debate, though often only implicitly. Recognizing Mexico's status within the U.S. migration system focuses attention on how the U.S. immigration debate affects Mexico, and on how Mexico may affect certain migration outcomes. Mexico's role in the U.S. immigration system, along with the importance of the bilateral relationship to both countries, creates a number of opportunities, and challenges, as Congress weighs changes to U.S. immigration policy. First, Mexico already plays a key role in U.S. immigration enforcement and border security. The United States and Mexico share information about transnational threats, Mexico combats illegal migration by third country nationals, and Mexico supports certain U.S. enforcement efforts related to the repatriation of Mexican nationals. This report explores possibilities for additional bilateralism in these areas, including strategies to reduce recidivism among illegal migrants and to better manage U.S.-Mexican ports of entry. Second, with respect to lawful permanent immigration, Mexico benefits from rules that favor family-based flows, but still dominates the waiting lists of people with approved immigration petitions for whom visas have not yet been made available. The analysis here focuses attention on recent proposals to reduce visa backlogs and on other reforms that could affect the number of immigrant visas for Mexico. Third, Mexico dominates temporary visa categories for low-skilled workers, and an increasing number of Mexicans could also qualify for high-skilled worker visas. The report reviews previous experience with Mexico-specific temporary worker programs, which offer mixed lessons about managing flows this way. Additional policy considerations concern potential legalization proposals and efforts to reduce unauthorized emigration from Mexico. Given the large number of unauthorized Mexican migrants in the United States, Mexico could play a role in a potential legalization program, including by providing information to verify migrants' identities and by facilitating proposed "touch-back" requirements. Finally, in the long run, economic development and employment creation in Mexico are widely viewed as being among the best tools to reduce unauthorized emigration. While demographic and economic trends in Mexico likely have already contributed to reduced illegal outflows, the relationship between international trade and financial flows, U.S. economic assistance, and economic opportunities in Mexico may represent promising areas for policies to reduce illegal migration in the future. This report supplements other CRS research on Mexico (such as CRS Report RL32724, Mexico: Issues for Congress; and CRS Report R41349, U.S.-Mexican Security Cooperation: The Mérida Initiative and Beyond ) and on immigration (such as CRS Report R42036, Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 112th Congress; and CRS Report R42138, Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry).