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3.2.2005

Survey of Mexican Migrants, Part One

Attitudes about Immigration and Major Demographic Characteristics

by Roberto Suro, Director, Pew Hispanic Center

Report Materials

Download PDF Complete Report

Press Release

Download PDF Transcript of Press Briefing

A first-of-its-kind survey of nearly 5,000 Mexican migrants who were interviewed while applying for identity cards at Mexican consulates in the United States has found that most want to remain in this country indefinitely but would participate in a temporary worker program that granted them legal status for a time and eventually required them to return to Mexico.

Survey respondents said by a margin of 4-to-1 that they would participate in such a temporary worker program, the broad outlines of which have been proposed by President George W. Bush. A similarly lopsided majority of respondents said they would participate in a different kind of program advocated by some leading Democrats that could lead to permanent legal status in this country for many unauthorized migrants.

The Pew Hispanic Center's Survey of Mexican Migrants provides detailed information on the demographic characteristics, living arrangements, work experiences and attitudes toward immigration of 4,836 Mexican adults who completed a 12-page questionnaire as they were applying for a matrícula consular, an identity document issued by Mexican diplomatic missions. Fieldwork was conducted in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Raleigh, NC, and Fresno, CA, from July 12, 2004, to Jan. 28, 2005.

Major findings in this report include:

  • When asked how long they expected to remain in the United States, a majority of respondents picked either "as long as I can" (42%) or "for the rest of my life" (17%). Meanwhile, 27 percent said they expected to stay for five years or less.
  • By a 4-to-1 margin (71% vs. 18%), survey respondents said they would participate in a program that would allow them to work in the United States and cross the border legally on the condition that they eventually return to Mexico. Respondents who said they had no form of U.S.-issued photo ID were even more positive (79% vs. 16%).
  • Among respondents who said they intended to stay in the United States for "as long as I can" or for "the rest of my life," a clear majority--68 percent--said they would participate in a temporary immigration program that would require them to return to Mexico. Acceptance of the idea of a temporary program was even higher--80 percent--among those who stated an intention to return to Mexico within five years.
  • By a margin of 72% to 17%, respondents said they would participate in a program that offered the prospect of permanent legalization for migrants who lived here for five years, continued working and had no problems with legal authorities. Respondents who said they had no U.S.-issued ID were even more positive (79% to 15%).
  • The largest shares of positive responses to questions about both programs came from young, relatively recently arrived migrants, who comprised nearly half of the total sample.
  • By wide margins, respondents in the overall sample (79% vs. 13%) and among those who said they had no U.S.-issued ID (82% vs. 12%) said that their friends and family in Mexico would be willing to participate in a temporary worker program that would eventually require them to return to Mexico.
  • The survey captured a distinctively young and recently arrived segment of the Mexican-born population living in the United States. Nearly half of the sample (48%) was between 18 and 29 years old, and almost half (43%) had been in the country for five years or less.
  • Respondents to the survey showed a higher level of educational achievement than the adult population of Mexico at large. The share of respondents whose education stopped at primary school is half of that in the Mexican adult population, and the share that went as far as high school is three times as large.
  • Significant differences emerge in the characteristics of respondents in traditional settlement areas for Mexican migrants such as Los Angeles and Fresno compared with those in new areas such as Raleigh and New York. These differences are relevant to determining the impact of Mexican migration on host communities. For example, in traditional settlement areas as many as half of all the Mexican migrants surveyed have children in public schools, compared with a quarter in new settlement areas.