Mexicans intending to cross the border illegally into the US are not significantly deterred by threats of arrest or the severity of possible punishment – the primary method for dealing with illegal immigration in the US – according to a new study of potential migrants.

Concerns about punishment and arrest are typically less influential in the decision to cross the border than other economic and non-economic factors, said a study published Thursday in the August issue of the American Sociological Review.

Those factors that had a greater influence on whether someone would consider crossing the border illegally include: the prevalence of undocumented migrants in a community, perceptions of US legal authority and the perception of job availability in Mexico.

"This study offers insights into how unauthorized migrants justify their violation of US immigration law, and how such justifications might make noncompliance with this particular law possible among otherwise law-abiding individuals," study author Emily Ryo said. "People generally see themselves as moral beings who want to do the right thing as they perceive it."

Ryo, a research fellow at Stanford Law School's Program in Law and Society and an assistant professor of law at the University of Southern California, found that while 78% of people surveyed said they did not think it is acceptable to violate a law because one disagrees with it, 55% said that violating a law is sometimes justified.

"If you ask an average person, why are there so many unauthorized migrants in the US, the typical story that you might get is something like this: people are looking for better jobs, better economic opportunities for themselves and their families and our immigration enforcement just isn't tough enough to stop them; so, here they are," Ryo said. "But this conventional story misses a critical point, because economic incentives alone typically do not induce otherwise law-abiding people to violate the law. And, my study shows that unauthorized migrants are no different."

Though the number of undocumented migrants arriving in the US through Mexico has been declining since 2007, there are more than 11 million currently in the US, 58% of whom are Mexican, according to the Pew center.

More than 1,600 men between 15 and 65 years of age participated in Ryo's study. Each participant currently works in Mexico or intends to work in Mexico or the United States within the next year. Nearly 9.6% of participants said they intend to migrate to the US illegally. The survey was restricted to men to maintain consistency with similar surveys taken in the past.

Ryo conducted interviews with undocumented immigrants and people planning on making an illegal crossing for a companion project. She also gathered data from the Becoming Illegal Survey and the Mexican Migration Project, a 21-year-old research effort coordinated by professors at the University of Guadalajara and Princeton University.