Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Foundation Website
  • Journal Home
  • Issues
    • Current Issue
    • All Issues
    • Future Issues
  • For Authors and Editors
    • Overview of RSF & How to Propose an Issue
    • RSF Style and Submission Guidelines
    • Article Submission Checklist
    • Permission Request Form for Authors to Request Permission from other Publishers
    • Terms of Contributor Agreement Form and Transfer of Copyright
    • RSF Contributor Agreement Form
    • Issue Editors' Agreement Form
    • RSF Policy on the Use of AI
  • About the Journal
    • Mission Statement
    • Editorial Board
    • Comments and Replies Policy
    • Journal Code of Ethics
    • Current Calls for Articles
    • Closed Calls for Articles
    • Abstracting and Indexing
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright and ISSN Information
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Publications
    • rsf

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
  • Publications
    • rsf
  • Log in
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences

Advanced Search

  • Foundation Website
  • Journal Home
  • Issues
    • Current Issue
    • All Issues
    • Future Issues
  • For Authors and Editors
    • Overview of RSF & How to Propose an Issue
    • RSF Style and Submission Guidelines
    • Article Submission Checklist
    • Permission Request Form for Authors to Request Permission from other Publishers
    • Terms of Contributor Agreement Form and Transfer of Copyright
    • RSF Contributor Agreement Form
    • Issue Editors' Agreement Form
    • RSF Policy on the Use of AI
  • About the Journal
    • Mission Statement
    • Editorial Board
    • Comments and Replies Policy
    • Journal Code of Ethics
    • Current Calls for Articles
    • Closed Calls for Articles
    • Abstracting and Indexing
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright and ISSN Information
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Follow rsf on Twitter
  • Visit rsf on Facebook
  • Follow rsf on Google Plus
Research ArticleIV. The Aftermath of Deportation
Open Access

De Facto Deportation from the United States to Mexico, 2015–2020

Erin R. Hamilton, Claudia Masferrer, Angelita Repetto, Nicole Denier
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences November 2025, 11 (4) 176-195; DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2025.11.4.08
Erin R. Hamilton
aProfessor of sociology at the University of California, Davis, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Claudia Masferrer
bAssociate professor at the Center for Demographic, Urban, and Environmental Studies and coordinator of the Seminar on Migration, Inequality, and Public Policies at El Colegio de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Angelita Repetto
cAssistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Nicole Denier
dAssociate professor of sociology at Colby College, Waterville, Maine, United States
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

REFERENCES

  1. ↵
    1. Andrews, Abigail
    . 2023. Banished Men: How Migrants Endure the Violence of Deportation. University of California Press.
  2. ↵
    1. Angelucci, Manuela
    . 2012. “US Border Enforcement and the Net Flow of Mexican Illegal Migration.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 60(2): 311–57. https://doi.org/10.1086/662575.
    OpenUrl
  3. ↵
    1. Barros Nock, Magdalena
    . 2019. “Familias mixtecas fracturadas por las deportaciones en Estados Unidos.” In ¿Volver a casa? Migrantes de retorno en América Latina: Debates, tendencias y experiencias divergentes, edited by Liliana Rivera Sánchez. El Colegio de México. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18r6qtz.
  4. ↵
    1. Bean, Frank D.,
    2. Barry Edmonston, and
    3. Jeffrey S. Passel
    . 1990. Undocumented Migration to the United States: IRCA and the Experience of the 1980s. Urban Institute.
  5. ↵
    1. Bean, Frank D.,
    2. Edward E. Telles, and
    3. B. Lindsay Lowell
    . 1987. “Undocumented Migration to the United States: Perceptions and Evidence.” Population and Development Review 13(4): 671–90. https://doi.org/10.2307/1973027.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  6. ↵
    1. Boehm, Deborah A
    . 2016. Returned: Going and Coming in an Age of Deportation. University of California Press.
  7. ↵
    1. Caldwell, Beth C
    . 2019. Deported Americans: Life After Deportation to Mexico. Duke University Press.
  8. ↵
    1. Capps, Randy,
    2. Heather Koball,
    3. Andrea Campetella,
    4. Krista Perreira,
    5. Sarah Hooker, and
    6. Juan Manuel Pedroza
    . 2015. Implications of Immigration Enforcement Activities for the Well-Being of Children in Immigrant Families. Urban Institute.
  9. ↵
    1. Chort, Isabelle, and
    2. Maëlys de la Rupelle
    . 2016. “Determinants of Mexico-US Outward and Return Migration Flows: A State-Level Panel Data Analysis.” Demography 53(5): 1453–77.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  10. ↵
    1. Cornelius, Wayne A
    . 2001. “Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy.” Population and Development Review 27(4): 661–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2001.00661.x.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  11. ↵
    1. Cornelius, Wayne A., and
    2. Idean Salehyan
    . 2007. “Does Border Enforcement Deter Unauthorized Immigration? The Case of Mexican Migration to the United States of America.” Regulation & Governance 1(2): 139–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2007.00007.x.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  12. ↵
    1. Cuecuecha-Mendoza, Alfredo,
    2. Jaime Lara-Lara, and
    3. José Dionicio Vázquez-Vázquez
    . 2017. “La reemigración de niños estadunidenses que viven en México.” Papeles de Población 23(91): 93–116.
    OpenUrl
  13. ↵
    1. Donato, Katharine M.,
    2. Jorge Durand, and
    3. Douglas S. Massey
    . 1992. “Stemming the Tide? Assessing the Deterrent Effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act.” Demography 29(2): 139–57.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  14. ↵
    1. Dreby, Joanna
    . 2015. “US Immigration Policy and Family Separation: The Consequences for Children’s Well-Being.” Social Science & Medicine 132: 245–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.041.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  15. ↵
    1. Enriquez, Laura E
    . 2020. Of Love and Papers: How Immigration Policy Affects Romance and Family. University of California Press.
  16. ↵
    1. Escobar Latapí, Agustín, and
    2. Claudia Masferrer, editors
    . 2022. Migration Between Mexico and the United States: IMISCOE Regional Reader. Springer International Publishing.
  17. ↵
    1. Espenshade, Thomas J
    . 1994. “Does the Threat of Border Apprehension Deter Undocumented US Immigration?” Population and Development Review 20(4): 871–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/2137667.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  18. ↵
    1. Gandara, Patricia, and
    2. Bryant Jensen, eds
    . 2021. The Students We Share: Preparing US and Mexican Educators for Our Transnational Future. State University of New York Press.
  19. ↵
    1. Garip, Filiz
    . 2016. On the Move: Changing Mechanisms of Mexico-U.S. Migration. Princeton University Press.
  20. ↵
    1. Giorguli Saucedo, Silvia,
    2. Bryant Jensen,
    3. Frank D. Bean,
    4. Susan Brown,
    5. Adam Sawyer, and
    6. Victor Zúñiga
    . 2022. “Educating Across Borders: The Well-Being of Students from Mexican Immigrant Families in the United States and in Mexico.” In Migration Between Mexico and the United States, edited by Agustín Escobar Latapí and Claudia Masferrer. MISCOE Research Series. Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-77810-1_3.
  21. ↵
    1. Golash-Boza, Tanya, and
    2. Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo
    . 2013. “Latino Immigrant Men and the Deportation Crisis: A Gendered Racial Removal Program.” Latino Studies 11(3): 271–92. https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2013.14.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  22. ↵
    1. Golash-Boza, Tanya Maria
    . 2015. Deported: Immigrant Policing, Disposable Labor, and Global Capitalism. NYU Press.
  23. ↵
    1. Hamilton, Erin R., and
    2. Jo Mhairi Hale
    . 2016. “Changes in the Transnational Family Structures of Mexican Farm Workers in the Era of Border Militarization.” Demography 53(5): 1429–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-016-0505-7.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  24. ↵
    1. Hamilton, Erin R.,
    2. Claudia Masferrer, and
    3. Paola Langer
    . 2023. “U.S. Citizen Children De Facto Deported to Mexico.” Population and Development Review 49(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12521.
  25. ↵
    1. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI)
    . 2020. Presentación de resultados: Censo de Población y Vivienda. https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/ccpv/2020/.
  26. ↵
    1. Jacobo-Suárez, Mónica
    . 2017. “De regreso a ‘casa’ y sin apostilla: estudiantes mexicoamericanos en México / Back home without apostille: Mexican-American students in Mexico.” Sinéctica (48): 1–18.
  27. ↵
    1. Kanstroom, Dan
    . 2007. Deportation Nation: Outsiders in American History. Harvard University Press.
  28. ↵
    1. Macías-Rojas, Patrisia
    . 2018. “Immigration and the War on Crime: Law and Order Politics and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.” Journal on Migration and Human Security 6(1): 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/233150241800600101.
    OpenUrl
  29. ↵
    1. Masferrer, Claudia
    . 2021. Atlas of Return Migration from the United States to Mexico. El Colegio de México.
  30. ↵
    1. Masferrer, Claudia,
    2. Erin R. Hamilton, and
    3. Nicole Denier
    . 2019. “Immigrants in Their Parental Homeland: Half a Million U.S.-Born Minors Settle Throughout Mexico.” Demography 56(4): 1453–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00788-0.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  31. ↵
    1. Masferrer, Claudia,
    2. Erin R. Hamilton, and
    3. Nicole Denier
    . 2024. “Adding Return Migration to the Equation: U.S. Immigration Policy and Migrant Families in Mexico.” In Immigration Policy and Immigrant Families, Penn State National Symposium on Family Issues, edited by Jennifer Van Hook and Valarie King, Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66679-7_2.
  32. ↵
    1. Masferrer, Claudia,
    2. Erin R. Hamilton, and
    3. Nicole Denier
    . 2025. The Returned: Former U.S. Migrants’ Lives in Mexico City. Russell Sage Foundation.
  33. ↵
    1. Masferrer, Claudia, and
    2. Bryan R. Roberts
    . 2012. “Going Back Home? Changing Demography and Geography of Mexican Return Migration.” Population Research and Policy Review 31(4): 465–96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-012-9243-8.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  34. ↵
    1. Massey, Douglas S
    . 1986. “The Settlement Process Among Mexican Migrants to the United States.” American Sociological Review 51(5): 670–84. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095492.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  35. ↵
    1. Massey, Douglas S., and
    2. Kristin E. Espinosa
    . 1997. “What’s Driving Mexico-US Migration? A Theoretical, Empirical, and Policy Analysis.” American Journal of Sociology 102(4): 939–99.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  36. ↵
    1. Massey, Douglas S., and
    2. Karen A. Pren
    . 2012. “Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Policy: Explaining the Post-1965 Surge from Latin America.” Population and Development Review 38(1): 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2012.00470.x.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  37. ↵
    1. Massey, Douglas S.,
    2. Jorge Durand, and
    3. Nolan J. Malone
    . 2002. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration. Russell Sage Foundation.
  38. ↵
    1. Massey, Douglas S.,
    2. Jorge Durand, and
    3. Karen A. Pren
    . 2015. “Border Enforcement and Return Migration by Documented and Undocumented Mexicans.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 41(7): 1015–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2014.986079.
    OpenUrl
  39. ↵
    1. Massey, Douglas S.,
    2. Karen A. Pren, and
    3. Jorge Durand
    . 2016. “Why Border Enforcement Backfired.” American Journal of Sociology 121(5): 1557–1600. https://doi.org/10.1086/684200.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  40. ↵
    1. Massey, Douglas S.,
    2. Rafael Alarcón,
    3. Jorge Durand, and
    4. Humberto González
    . 1987. Return to Aztlan: The Social Process of International Migration from Western Mexico, Vol. 1. University of California Press.
  41. ↵
    1. Medina, Dulce, and
    2. Cecilia Menjívar
    . 2015. “The Context of Return Migration: Challenges of Mixed-Status Families in Mexico’s Schools.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 38(12): 2123–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2015.1036091.
    OpenUrl
  42. ↵
    1. Muruthi, Bertranna A.,
    2. Katrina Taschman,
    3. Amanda Stafford McRell et al
    . 2024. “Things That Could Have Helped Me Cope: Adults Reflect on What They Needed as Children After the Deportation of a Parent.” Family Journal 32(3): 363–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807231225212.
    OpenUrl
  43. ↵
    1. Pedroza, Juan
    . 2013. “Removal Roulette: Secure Communities and Immigration Enforcement in the United States (2008–2012).” In Outside Justice: Immigration and the Criminalizing Impact of Changing Policy and Practice, edited by David C. Brotherton, Daniel L. Stageman, and Shirley P. Leyro. Springer.
  44. ↵
    1. Reichert, Joshua S
    . 1981. “The Migrant Syndrome: Seasonal U.S. Wage Labor and Rural Development in Central Mexico.” Human Organization 40(1): 56–66. https://doi.org/10.17730/humo.40.1.c6148p5743512768.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  45. ↵
    1. Rodríguez-Cruz, Marta
    . 2023. “Adolescents de Facto Deported in Oaxaca, Mexico: Mental and Emotional Health Impacts.” Social Science & Medicine 326: 115947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115947.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  46. ↵
    1. Schultheis, Ryan, and
    2. Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
    . 2017. “A Revolving Door No More? A Statistical Profile of Mexican Adults Repatriated from the United States.” Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/revolving-door-no-more-statistical-profile-mexican-adults-repatriated-united-states.
  47. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2011. “Civil Immigration Enforcement: Priorities for Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens.” Memorandum from John Morton, director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Policy No. 10072.1; FEA No. 601-14. Accessed August 26, 2025. https://www.ice.gov/doclib/news/releases/2011/110302washingtondc.pdf.
  48. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2016a. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, First Half, Calendar Year 2015.
  49. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2016b. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, First Half, Calendar Year 2016.
  50. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2016c. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, Second Half, Calendar Year 2015.
  51. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2017a. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, First Half, Calendar Year 2017.
  52. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2017b. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, Second Half, Calendar Year 2016.
  53. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2018. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, Second Half, Calendar Year 2017.
  54. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2019a. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, First Half, Calendar Year 2018.
  55. ↵
    1. US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
    . 2019b. Deportation of Aliens Claiming U.S.-Born Children, Second Half, Calendar Year 2018.
  56. ↵
    1. Valdivia, Carolina
    . 2021. “‘I Became a Mom Overnight’: How Parental Detentions and Deportations Impact Young Adults’ Role.” Harvard Educational Review 91(1): 62–82. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-91.1.62.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  57. ↵
    1. Valdivia, Carolina
    . 2025. “Hyper-Illegality, Reentry, and Everyday Life in the United States Post-Deportation.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 11(4): 217–37. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2025.11.4.10.
    OpenUrl
  58. ↵
    1. Vargas-Valle, Eunice D.,
    2. Jennifer Elyse Glick, and
    3. Pedro P. Orraca-Romano
    . 2022. “US Citizenship for Our Mexican Children! US-Born Children of Non-Migrant Mothers in Northern Mexico.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 39(2): 161–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2022.2076253.
    OpenUrl
  59. ↵
    1. Waldinger, Roger
    . 2023. “After the Transnational Turn: Looking Across Borders to See the Hard Face of the Nation-State.” International Migration 61(1): 92–104. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12868.
    OpenUrl
  60. ↵
    1. Zayas, Luis H
    . 2015. Forgotten Citizens: Deportation, Children, and the Making of American Exiles and Orphans. Oxford University Press.
  61. ↵
    1. Zayas, Luis H.,
    2. Alejandra Garcia Isaza,
    3. Jaime Fuentes-Balderrama, and
    4. María Elena Rivera-Heredia
    . 2024. “Well-Being and Contexts of Development of U.S. Citizen Children in Mexico Following Parental Deportation or Voluntary Relocation.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 94(5): 508–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000734.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  62. ↵
    1. Zúñiga, Víctor, and
    2. Eduardo Carrillo Cantú
    . 2020. “Migración y exclusión escolar: truncamiento de la educación básica en menores migrantes de Estados Unidos a México.” Estudios Sociológicos. 38(114): 655–88. https://doi.org/10.24201/es.2020v38n114.1907.
    OpenUrl
  63. ↵
    1. Zúñiga, Víctor, and
    2. Silvia Giorguli-Saucedo
    . 2020. Niñas y niños en la migración de Estados Unidos a México: la generación 0.5. Mexico City, Mexico: El Colegio de México.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: 11 (4)
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
Vol. 11, Issue 4
1 Nov 2025
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Cover (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
De Facto Deportation from the United States to Mexico, 2015–2020
(Your Name) has sent you a message from RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
4 + 6 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
De Facto Deportation from the United States to Mexico, 2015–2020
Erin R. Hamilton, Claudia Masferrer, Angelita Repetto, Nicole Denier
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Nov 2025, 11 (4) 176-195; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2025.11.4.08

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
De Facto Deportation from the United States to Mexico, 2015–2020
Erin R. Hamilton, Claudia Masferrer, Angelita Repetto, Nicole Denier
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Nov 2025, 11 (4) 176-195; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2025.11.4.08
del.icio.us logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • THE EMERGENCE OF DE FACTO DEPORTATION FROM THE US TO MEXICO
    • THE DE FACTO DEPORTATION OF CHILDREN FROM THE US TO MEXICO
    • DATA AND METHODS TO QUANTIFY DE FACTO DEPORTATION TO MEXICO
    • ESTIMATES OF DE FACTO DEPORTED PEOPLE IN MEXICO IN 2020
    • EXPERIENCES OF DEPORTATION AND FAMILY REORGANIZATION
    • DISCUSSION
    • FOOTNOTES
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Hyper-Illegality, Reentry, and Everyday Life in the United States Post-Deportation
  • Urgent Returns: The Link Between Family and the Remigration Intentions of Deported Central Americans in an Era of Border Externalization
Show more IV. The Aftermath of Deportation

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • de facto deportation
  • return migration
  • family
  • children
  • immigration policy
  • United States
  • Mexico

© 2026 RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences

Powered by HighWire