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  4. May 2022
  5. Border Fencing, Migrant Flows, and Crossing Deaths

Border Fencing, Migrant Flows, and Crossing Deaths

  • Cynthia Bansak
  • Abigail Hall Blanco
  • Michael Coon
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 112, May 2022
(pp. 381-85)
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Abstract

Using data from the US Customs and Border Protection and novel data on border fencing, we examine how the construction of border fencing under the Secure Fence Act influenced crossing decisions and the likelihood of migrant deaths. Apprehension data suggest that fence construction induced migrants to cross in unfenced sectors. Meanwhile, the average death rate rose nearly threefold in the sectors where the fence was not built. These results support our hypotheses that fence construction induced some migrants to cross in unfenced sectors, while others were diverted to cross in more dangerous locations within fenced sectors.

Citation

Bansak, Cynthia, Abigail Hall Blanco, and Michael Coon. 2022. "Border Fencing, Migrant Flows, and Crossing Deaths." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112: 381-85. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221023

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Behavior
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • K37 Immigration Law