Trends in Migration Between Mexico and the US

The Population Association of America met this week in Washington, DC and among the many interesting sessions was one that included both Mexican and American demographers discussing recent trends in migration between the US and Mexico. Data from the 10 percent microsample of the 2010 census of Mexico and the 2005 - 2009 American Community Survey both confirm what we had suspected--that migration out of Mexico dropped dramatically in the face of the Great Recession, whereas there was only a very modest rise in return migration from the US to Mexico. The latter trend was small enough that it did not necessarily constitute a rise in the out-migration rate, and there was speculation at the session that it could have been due especially to the increase in 'interior enforcement' leading to a greater number of deportations.