Mexican immigration

Here is my New York Times column; the topic is familiar but the slant is new: I consider the problematic incentives for Mexican education.  Here is the beginning of the problem:

A high school diploma brings higher wages in Mexico,
but in the United States the more educated migrants do not earn
noticeably more than those who have less education. Education does not
much raise the productivity of hard physical labor. The result is that
the least educated Mexicans have the most reason to cross the border.
In addition, many Mexicans, knowing they may someday go to the United
States, see less reason to invest in education.

Here is another commonly neglected point:

Unfortunately, we cannot expect a wealthier Mexico to resolve migration
problems, at least not within the short- or even medium-run. The
evidence suggests that good times in Mexico give the poor the means to
leave, while keeping the better-educated males at home in good jobs.

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