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The Role of Drug-Related Violence and Extortion in Promoting Mexican Migration: Unexpected Consequences of a Drug War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Viridiana Rios Contreras
Viridiana Rios Contreras*
Affiliation:
Harvard University
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Abstract

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Mexican immigration figures have reached their lowest point since 2000. Yet, even if as a whole the United States is receiving fewer Mexican migrants, the opposite is true for cities at the border. In this article, I present evidence to show that this sui generis migration pattern cannot be understood using traditional explanations of migration dynamics. Instead, Mexicans are migrating because of security issues, in fear of drug-related violence and extortion that has spiked since 2008. I provide the first estimate of this migration pattern, showing that 264,692 Mexicans have migrated in fear of organized crime activities. In doing so, I combine the literature on migration dynamics with that on violence and crime, pointing toward ways in which nonstate actors shape actions of state members.

Resumo

Resumo

La migración de México a Estados Unidos llegó a su máximo en el año 2000, excepto en ciudades de frontera. Este artículo presenta evidencia de que la migración de frontera no puede explicarse a partir de las variables que típicamente determinan los flujos migratorios. En cambio, los mexicanos han emigrado huyendo de la violencia relacionada con el narcotráfico y la extorsión que se han incrementado importantemente desde 2008. Se presentan estimados que muestran que al menos 264,692 mexicanos han migrado fuéra de sus comunidades temiendo las actividades del crimen organizado. En general, este artículo combina la literatura que explica dinámicas migratorias con aquella que explica los efectos de la violencia y crimen, ilustrando de esta forma cómo actores no estatales como el crimen organizado pueden cambiar las decisiones de individuos viviendo dentro del estado.

Type
Research Reports and Notes
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , 2014 , pp. 199 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the University of Texas Press

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