Visitor Visa Policy Changes and Mexico-Canada Migration

Abstract

Although recent scholarship shows that restrictive visa policies curtail migration, research does not disaggregate policy effects within migration flows. We analyze Mexico-Canada migration when a travel visa was imposed in 2009 and removed in 2016. The imposition coincided with a dramatic decrease in travel and refugee claims. However, the number of Mexican immigrants grew, contrasting expectations of migration policy effectiveness research. We suggest that future research should disaggregate effects of policy changes, consider a state’s broader approach to migration policy, and examine how subnational programs and number of legal migration pathways influence trends of mixed migration flows.