Mexican Border Cities and Migration Flows

Binational research paper supporting the study "Developing the U.S.-Mexico Border Region for a Prosperous and Secure Relationship."The primary purpose of this work is to present and analyze some of the social challenges found in border cities, and to analyze various migration flows to these locations. First, we consider the social context of border cities in recent years, presenting issues such as the lack of public infrastructure, housing shortages, public health problems, security concerns, and general urban poverty. We then analyze population growth in the border area and in major border towns on the Mexican side. Also considered are migration flows to the border, their origin, and the sociodemographic characteristics of the migrants. Other subjects covered in this work are the insertion of migrants into local border labor markets, transmigration in the cities, deportation of international migrants in border cities, and unaccompanied migrant children. The information and data used for this work come primarily from the Northern Border International Migration Survey [1] and the Mexican Population Census. [2] The analyses show that cities on the Mexican border are in a permanent state of change. Continuous and heavy migrant flows have spurred economic growth in border towns, but in the last few years, their influence on growth and development has begun to diminish