Deciding where to retire: Intended retirement location choices of formerly undocumented Mexican migrants

Objective. I use transnational theory to address how transnational relationships, behavior, and context influence retirement location choices of recently legalized immigrants. I also account for the relationship between assimilation and retirement location choices. Methods. To test these theories, I use the 1992 Legalized Population Survey to examine formerly undocumented Mexican immigrants' attachment to the United States through their intended retirement location, either the United States or Mexico. I use logistic regression to test whether the two theories are related with retirement location choices. Results. I find strong support for the role of transnational factors, thus widening the scope of the literature to include variables linking immigrants to their communities within Mexico. Conclusion. This study empirically tests and quantifies transnational theory using multivariate analysis, and adds to the transnational literature by suggesting that national boundaries are political constructs that do not completely contain social and economic systems.