Effect of Title 42 on Irregular Migration on Mexico's Northern Border during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Rodrigo Carrillo-Valles, El Colegio de La Frontera Norte

The objective of this paper is to analyze whether Title 42 had an impact on irregular migration in Mexico, with particular attention to municipalities located in the northern border region. To do so, data of detentions of individuals in irregular migratory situation published by the National Institute of Migration of Mexico and difference-in-differences method. An immediate effect of Title 42 was a decrease in detentions. This effect changes over time, and two years after its implementation, it is found that this policy contributed to an increase of irregular migration, especially in municipalities located in the border region. The main limitation lies in the fact that the implementation of Title 42 coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have also caused other significant changes.

Keywords: International Migration, Econometrics , Migrant Populations and Refugees, Neighbourhood/contextual effect analysis

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