Border Walls and International Migration Flows

• In Event: Borders of Exclusion and Containment: Forms of Migration Control

Abstract

How do border walls affect international migration flows? Border walls are often associated with anti-immigration sentiments and restrictive immigration policies. Yet, we have limited evidence of how physical border barriers affect the volumes and flows of people. To fill this gap, we examine the relationship between border walls and transnational migration flows using unique geo-coded data on border walls along with various sources of data on global migration flows. We find that the presence of a wall is negatively associated with migration flows from neighboring countries, especially when walls have long spans.

Authors

• Junghyun Lim, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Michael Kenwick, Rutgers University

• Beth A. Simmons, University of Pennsylvania