Locational Choices of the Legal and Illegal: Mexican Agricultural Workers in the U.S.

The paper examines if and how state-level labor market, agricultural, and demographic conditions, public aid provisions, minimum wages, and border patrol intensities persuade or dissuade illegal and legal farmworker migration from Mexico. The study uses a nationally-representative survey of farmworkers that provides direct data on legal status, and qualitative choice modeling of individual locational choices. Results indicate that, consistent with social capital literature, personal and community networks are primary determinants of individual locational choices. Conversely, border enforcement significantly deters migration to certain areas. Results are strongest for California migrants and for experienced migrants relative to new ones. Potential welfare and education program values are found uncorrelated with the locational choices of Mexican migrants, but are positively correlated with the destinations of those from Central America.