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Remittances to Latin America from Migrants in the United States: Assessing the Impact of Amnesty Programs

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  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina

    (University of California, Merced)

  • Mazzolari, Francesca

    (Centro Studi Confindustria)

Abstract

The magnitude of remittance flows to Latin America exceeds the combined inflows of foreign direct investment and official development assistance to the region. Since the United States is the destination country of the vast majority of migrants from Mexico, as well as from other Latin American countries, U.S. immigration policy can have a significant impact on the volume of remittances to the Latin American region. This paper studies how a generalized amnesty – a provision in the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), affected immigrants' remitting patterns. In models that control for immigrants' length of residence in the United States and for economic conditions in both the U.S. state of residence and the country of origin, we estimate substantial post-legalization drops in remittances sent home by Mexican-born migrants who legalized through IRCA. Given the potential positive impact of remittances on investment levels, entrepreneurship rates and the development of the financial sector, this finding underscores the importance of gaining a better understanding of the impact that immigration policies in immigrant-receiving countries may have on the stream of remittance flows to immigrant-sending communities in developing regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Mazzolari, Francesca, 2009. "Remittances to Latin America from Migrants in the United States: Assessing the Impact of Amnesty Programs," IZA Discussion Papers 4318, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4318
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    Cited by:

    1. Balli, Faruk & Guven, Cahit & Balli, Hatice O. & Gounder, Rukmani, 2010. "The Role of Institutions, Culture, and Wellbeing in Explaining Bilateral Remittance Flows: Evidence Both Cross-Country and Individual-Level Analysis," MPRA Paper 29609, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Simone Cremaschi & Carlo Devillanova, 2016. "Immigrants and Legal Status: Do Personal Contacts Matter?," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1629, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    3. Carlo Devillanova & Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini, 2014. "Employment of Undocumented Immigrants and the Prospect of Legal Status: Evidence from an Amnesty Program," Development Working Papers 367, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 26 Jun 2014.
    4. Altangerel, Khulan, 2019. "Essays on immigration policy," Other publications TiSEM 954c6300-249e-496c-8cef-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Borra, Cristina & Rivera Garrido, Noelia, 2019. "Fertility Implications of Policy Granting Legal Status Based on Offspring's Nationality," IZA Discussion Papers 12641, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Francesco Fasani, 2015. "Understanding the Role of Immigrants’ Legal Status: Evidence from Policy Experiments," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 61(3-4), pages 722-763.
    7. Cascio, Elizabeth U. & Lewis, Ethan G., 2019. "Distributing the Green (Cards): Permanent residency and personal income taxes after the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 135-150.
    8. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Pozo, Susan, 2012. "Remittances and Portfolio Values: An Inquiry Using Spanish Immigrants from Africa, Europe and the Americas," IZA Discussion Papers 6622, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Oded Stark & Lukasz Byra, 2020. "Can a deportation policy backfire?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 29-41, April.
    10. Yaşar AYYILDIZ, 2014. "İşçi Dövizlerinin Kırgızistan Açısından Değerlendirilmesi: Göçmen İşçiler Araştırması," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 21(21).
    11. Francesco Fasani, 2015. "Understanding the Role of Immigrants’ Legal Status: Evidence from Policy Experiments," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 61(3-4), pages 722-763.
    12. Vaira-Lucero, Matias & Nahm, Daehoon & Tani, Massimiliano, 2012. "The Impact of the 1996 US Immigration Policy Reform (IIRIRA) on Mexican Migrants' Remittances," IZA Discussion Papers 6546, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, 2014. "The good and the bad in remittance flows," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-97, November.
    14. Miranda Simon, 2019. "Path Dependency and Adaptation: The Effects of Policy on Migration Systems," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 22(2), pages 1-2.
    15. Wadad Saad & Hassan Ayoub, 2019. "Remittances, Governance and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from MENA Region," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(8), pages 1-1, August.
    16. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Thitima Puttitanun, 2014. "Remittances and immigration enforcement," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-26, December.
    17. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2010. "Remittances and their Response to Portfolio Variables," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1021, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    18. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Pozo, Susan, 2013. "Remittances and Portfolio Values: An Inquiry using Immigrants from Africa, Europe, and the Americas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 83-95.
    19. Imad El Hamma, 2018. "Migrant Remittances and Economic Growth: The Role of Financial Development and Institutional Quality," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 503-504, pages 123-142.
    20. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2023. "The widespread impacts of remittance flows," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-97, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    remittances; Latin American migrants; legal status; amnesty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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