This article compares the transition into legal permanent residence (LPR) of Mexicans, Dominicans, and Nicaraguans. Dominicans had the highest likelihood of obtaining such residence, mostly sponsored by parents and spouses. Mexicans had the lowest LPR transition rates and presented sharp gender differentials in modes: women were found to be mostly legalized through husbands, while men were sponsored by their parents or through provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). Nicaraguans stood in between, presenting few gender differences in rates and modes of transition and a heavy dependence on asylum and special provisions in immigration legislation. These patterns are found to stem from the interplay of conditions favoring the emigration of, and the specific immigration policy context faced by, migrant pioneers; the influence of social networks in reproducing the legal character of flows; and differences in the actual use of kinship ties as sponsors. The implications of these trends on the observed gendered patterns of migration from Latin America are discussed.
Andreas, Peter.2000. Border games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico divide. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
2.
Angelucci, Manuela.2005. U.S. border enforcement and the new flow of Mexican illegal migration. IZA Discussion Paper no. 1642. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany. Available from http://ssrn.com/abstract=756408.
3.
Bloemraad, Irene.2006. Citizenship lessons from the past: The contours of immigrant naturalization in the early 20th century. Social Science Quarterly87 (5): 927-53.
4.
Bratsberg, Bernt, J.F. Ragan, and Z.M. Nasir.2002. The effect of naturalization on wage growth: A panel study of young male immigrants. Journal of Labor Economics20 (3): 568-97.
5.
Calavita, Kitty.1992. Inside the state: The Bracero Program, immigration, and the I.N.S. New York, NY: Routledge .
6.
Cerrutti, Marcela, and Douglas S. Massey .2001. On the auspices of female migration from Mexico to the United States. Demography38 (2): 187-200.
7.
Chavez, Leo R., E.T. Flores, and M. Lopezgarza.1992. Undocumented Latin American immigrants and United States health services: An approach to a political economy of utilization . Medical Anthropology Quarterly6 (1): 6-26.
8.
Coffino, Eli.2006. A long road to residency: The legal history of Salvadoran and Guatemalan immigration to the United States with a focus on NACARA. Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law14 (177): 176-208.
9.
Cornelius, Wayne A.1992. From sojourners to settlers: The changing profile of Mexican immigration to the United States. In U.S. Mexico relations: Labor market interdependence, ed. Jorge A. Bustamante, W. Reynolds, and R. A. Hinojosa Ojeda, 155-95. Palo Alto, CA : Stanford University Press.
10.
Coutin, Susan B.2000. Legalizing moves: Salvadoran immigrants’ struggle for U.S. residency. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
11.
Donato, Katherine M.1993. Current trends and patterns of female migration: Evidence from Mexico. International Migration Review27 (4): 748-71.
12.
Donato, Katherine M., M. Aguilera, and C. Wakabayashi.2005. Immigration policy and employment conditions of U.S. immigrants from Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. International Migration43 (5): 5-29.
13.
Duany, Jorge.2002. The Puerto Rican nation on the move: Identities on the island and in the United States. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
14.
Duany, Jorge.2005. Dominican migration to Puerto Rico: A transnational perspective . Centro Journal17 (1): 242-68.
15.
Eig, Larry M.1998. The Nicaraguan adjustment and Central American Relief Act: Hardship relief and long-term illegal aliens. CRS Reports. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
16.
Flores, Nadia, R. Hernández-León , and D.S. Massey.2004. Social capital and emigration from urban and rural communities. In Crossing the border: Research from the Mexican Migration Project, ed. Jorge Durand and Douglas S. Massey, 184-200. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
17.
Funkhouser, Edward.1992. Migration From Nicaragua: Some recent-evidence. World Development20 (8): 1209-18.
18.
Fussell, Elizabeth, and D.S. Massey.2004. The limits to cumulative causation: International migration from Mexican urban areas. Demography41 (1): 151-71.
19.
Gamio, Manuel.1930. Mexican immigration to the United States: A study of human migration and adjustment. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
20.
Gilbertson, Greta, and A. Singer.2003. The emergence of protective citizenship in the USA: Naturalization among Dominican immigrants in the post-1996 welfare reform era. Ethnic and Racial Studies26 (1): 25-51.
21.
Grasmuck, Sherri, and P. Pessar.1991. Between two islands: Dominican international migration. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
22.
Hoffman, Abraham.1974. Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression: Repatriation pressures, 1929-1939. Tucson, AF: University of Arizona Press.
23.
Jasso, Guillermina.1989. Sponsors, sponsorship rates and the immigration multiplier . International Migration Review23 (4): 856-88.
24.
Jasso, Guillermina, and M.R. Rosenzweig .1986. Family reunification and the immigration multiplier: United States immigration law, origin-country conditions, and the reproduction of immigrants. Demography23 (3): 291-311.
25.
Lindstrom, David P.1996. Economic opportunity in Mexico and return migration from the United States. Demography33 (3): 357-74.
26.
Lundquist, Jennifer H., and D.S. Massey.2005. Politics or economics? International migration during the Nicaraguan Contra War. Journal of Latin American Studies37:29-53.
27.
Malone, Nolan J.2004. A whole new ballgame: An analysis of legalization processes faced by Mexicans to the United States in the post-Bracero era. Dissertation, Demographics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
28.
Martin, John B.1966. Overtaken by events: The Dominican crisis from the fall of Trujillo to the civil war. New York, NY: Doubleday.
29.
Martin, Philip L.1994. Good intentions gone awry: IRCA and United States agriculture . The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science534:44-57.
30.
Massey, Douglas S., R. Alarcon, J. Durand, and H. Gonzalez.1987. Return to Aztlan: The social process of international migration from western Mexico. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
31.
Massey, Douglas S., and K. Bartley.2005. The changing legal status distribution of immigrants: A caution. International Migration Review39 (2): 469-84.
32.
Massey, Douglas S., and C. Capoferro.2004. Measuring undocumented migration. International Migration Review38 (3): 1075-1102.
33.
Massey, Douglas S., J. Durand, and N.J. Malone.2002. Beyond smoke and mirrors: Mexican immigration in an era of economic integration. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
34.
Massey, Douglas S., and K.E. Espinosa.1997. What’s driving Mexico-US migration? A theoretical, empirical, and policy analysis. American Journal of Sociology102 (4): 939-99.
35.
Massey, Douglas S., M.J. Fischer, and C. Capoferro.2006. International migration and gender in Latin America: A comparative analysis. International Migration44 (5): 63-91.
36.
Massey, Douglas S., and N. Malone.2003. Pathways to legal immigration. Population Research and Policy Review21 (6): 473-504.
37.
Massey, Douglas S., and M. Sana.2003. Patterns of U.S. migration from Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Migraciones Internacionales2 (2): 5-39.
38.
Menjivar, Cecilia.2006. Liminal legality: Salvadoran and Guatemalan immigrants’ lives in the United States. American Journal of Sociology111 (4): 999-1037.
39.
Mitchell, Christopher.1989. International migration, international relations and foreign policy. International Migration Review23 (3): 681-708.
40.
Mitchell, Christopher.1994. U.S. policy toward Haitian boat people, 1972-93. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science534:69-80.
41.
Munshi, Kaivan.2003. Networks in the modern economy: Mexican migrants in the US labor market. Quarterly Journal of Economics118 (2): 549-99.
42.
Newbold, K. Bruce.2000. Intended and initial settlement patterns of recent immigrants to the US, 1985-1990: A comparison of PUMS and INS public use files. Population and Environment21 (6): 539-63.
43.
Newbold, K. Bruce, and N. Achjar.2002. Immigration, intended settlement patterns, and their dynamics in the United States, 1980-1990. International Regional Science Review25 (2): 219-44.
44.
Palloni, Alberto, D.S. Massey, M. Ceballos, K. Espinosa, and M. Spittel.2001. Social capital and international migration: A test using information on family networks. American Journal of Sociology106 (5): 1262-98.
45.
Pantoja, Adrian D., and S.A. Gershon.2006. Political orientations and naturalization among Latino and Latina immigrants. Social Science Quarterly87 (5): 1171-87.
46.
Passel, Jeffrey S.2005. Estimates of the size and characteristics of the undocumented Population. Pew Report, March 21. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.
47.
Phillips, Julie A., and D.S. Massey.1999. The new labor market: Immigrants and wages after IRCA. Demography36 (2): 233-46.
48.
Polgreen, Linnea, and N.B. Simpson.2006. Recent trends in the skill composition of legal US immigrants. Southern Economic Journal72 (4): 938-57.
49.
Portes, Alejandro, and J.W. Curtis.1987. Changing flags: Naturalization and its determinants among Mexican immigrants. International Migration Review21 (2): 352-71.
50.
Portes, Alejandro, and R. Grosfoguel.1994. Caribbean diasporas: Migration and ethnic communities. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science533:48-69.
51.
Portes, Alejandro, and R.G. Rumbaut.2006. Immigrant America: A portrait. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
52.
Riosmena, Fernando.2005. Within, between, and beyond space-time: Three essays on Latin America-US migration dynamics. Doctoral dissertation, Graduate Group in Demography, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
53.
Siskin, Alison, A. Bruno, B. Nunez-Neto, L.M. Seghetti, and R.E. Wasem.2006. Immigration enforcement within the United States. CSR Report. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
54.
Stodolska, Monika.2006. Transnationalism and leisure: Mexican temporary migrants in the US. Journal of Leisure Research38 (2): 143-67.
55.
Tyree, Andrea, and K. Donato.1985. The sex composition of legal immigrants to the United States. Sociology and Social Research69 (4): 577-84.
56.
U.S. Office of Immigration Statistics.2007 . Yearbook of immigration statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
57.
Van Hook, Jennifer, S.K. Brown, and F.D. Bean.2006. For love or money? Welfare reform and immigrant naturalization. Social Forces85 (2): 643-66.
58.
Vázquez, Josefina Zoraida , and L. Meyer.1989. México Frente a Estados Unidos: Un Ensayo Histórico, 1776-1988. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
59.
Vialet, Joyce C.1991. A brief history of U.S. immigration policy. CSR Report . Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
60.
Vialet, Joyce C.1997. Immigration: The new affidavit of support-Questions, answers, and issues. CSR Report. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
61.
Wasem, Ruth Ellen.1997. Central American asylum seekers: Impact of 1996 Immigration Law. CSR Report. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
62.
Wasem, Ruth Ellen.2006. U.S. immigration policy on permanent admissions. CSR Report . Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
63.
Wasem, Ruth Ellen, and K. Ester.2006. Temporary protected status: Current immigration policy and issues. CSR Report. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.
64.
White, Michael J., A.E. Biddlecom, and S.Y. Guo.1993. Immigration, naturalization, and residential assimilation among Asian-Americans in 1980. Social Forces72 (1): 93-117.
65.
Woodrow-Lafield, Karen A., X.O. Xu, T. Kersen, and B. Poch.2004. Naturalization of US immigrants: Highlights from ten countries. Population Research and Policy Review23 (3): 187-218.
66.
World Bank.2005. World development indicators database. Available from http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/DDPQQ/member.do?method=getMembers&userid=1&queryId=6.
67.
Yang, Philip Q.1994a. Ethnicity and naturalization. Ethnic and Racial Studies17 (4): 593-618.
68.
Yang, Philip Q.1994b. Explaining immigrant naturalization. International Migration Review28 (3): 449-77.
