Fenced Out: The Impact of Border Construction on US-Mexico Migration
- (pp. 106-39)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
This paper estimates the impact of the US-Mexico border fence on US-Mexico migration by exploiting variation in the timing and location of US government investment in fence construction. Using Mexican survey data and data I collected on fence construction, I find that construction in a municipality reduces migration by 27 percent for municipality residents and 15 percent for residents of adjacent municipalities. In addition, construction reduces migration by up to 35 percent from non-border municipalities. I also find that construction induces migrants to substitute toward alternative crossing locations, disproportionately deters low-skilled migrants, and reduces the number of undocumented Mexicans in the United States.Citation
Feigenberg, Benjamin. 2020. "Fenced Out: The Impact of Border Construction on US-Mexico Migration." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 12 (3): 106-39. DOI: 10.1257/app.20170231Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- K37 Immigration Law
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
Physical and Tech Security
Did you consider the projected (when a wall is completed) combined impact of physical and technological security? Did you consider the costs (food, clothing, shelter, law enforcement, health, education, interest, depreciation, real estate) of all of the "free" services' over-time, which are provided to illegal immigrants?
Thanks.