Social Ties and Stricter Immigration Enforcement Influencing Mexican Migrants’ Remitting Behavior

Abstract

This study examines whether Mexican migrants’ remitting behavior during their last U.S. trip changed as policies restricting unauthorized immigration in the U.S. tightened. Using data from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP 150), this study addresses two research questions: 1) does Mexican migrants’ social ties influence their remittance behavior? and 2) does social ties counteract immigrant restriction effects on Mexican migrants’ remittance sending behavior? A Logistic regression model was used to estimate the likelihood that migrants send remittances during their last U.S. trip. An ordinary least squares regression was used to estimate the effect of social ties and immigrant enforcement periods on the logged amount of remittances sent monthly (2010 USD) by Mexican migrants during their last U.S. trip. Findings show that stricter immigration policies and social ties increased their likelihood in sending remittances and quantity sent.