Jorge Durand

Jorge Durand, research professor of anthropology at the University of Guadalajara, will use the comprehensive survey data assembled by the Mexican Migration Project to test the hypothesis that the 1986 U.S. policy of border crackdowns and legalization drives transformed the nature of Mexican immigration to this country in ways the legislators never fully anticipated. Mexican immigration used to consist primarily of short-term, male workers shuttling back and forth across the border. After 1986, Mexican families came to settle here for good. Durand will examine the social consequences of this new pattern of immigration, including the growth of permanent, fully-fledged immigrant communities in the United States, and the removal of large numbers of female workers from the Mexican labor force.