Immigration to Mexico

Over the centuries, Mexico has received immigrants from Europe, the Americas (e.g., the United States, Argentina, Brazil and Canada), and sometimes from Asia. Today, millions of their descendants still live in Mexico and can be found working in different industries.

Mexico is a country of emigration, immigration, refuge, transit, and return migration. According to the 2010 National Census, there are 961,121 immigrants registered with the government as living in Mexico, the majority of whom are US citizens.^[1] This is almost double the 492,617 foreign-born residents counted in the 2000 Census.^[1]

Immigration policy

Prior to May 2011, Mexico's immigration flows were regulated by the outdated and highly restrictive 1974 General Law of Population. However, on May 24, President Felipe Calderón signed into law a new and much more liberal Migration Law.^[2] The Mexican Senate and subsequently the House had unanimously approved the migration bill that led to this new law on February 24 and April 29, respectively. Some of the most significant principles of this new law deal with the rights of migrants. The new law guarantees that foreigners and Mexican nationals will receive equal treatment under Mexican law. Under this principle all immigrants, regardless of status, are granted the right to access education and health services. Mechanism aimed at promoting family unity are now in place. Moreover, before the government takes action (e.g. deportation) with respect to migrant children and other vulnerable individuals (women, seniors, the handicapped and victims of crime) their specific needs must be prioritized and adequate services must be provided. Migrants are also granted judicial rights that they previously lacked, such as the right to due process. In addition, the law also calls for establishing a Center for Trust Evaluation and Control which will be charged with the task of training and certifying immigration personnel in hopes of curtailing corruption practices. All Institute of Migration officials are to meet the same standards as the rest of the country's security agencies. Government officials found to be in violation of this law are now subject to stiff penalties, including monetary fines and hard time behind bars.

With the Mexican government’s intent to control migration flows and attract foreigners who can contribute to economic development, the new migration law simplifies foreigners’ entrance and residence requirements. First of all, it replaces the two large immigration categories—immigrant and nonimmigrant—with the categories of “visitor” and “temporary resident.” However, the status of “permanent resident” is kept. In the General Law of Population the two categories incorporate over 30 different types of foreigners—i.e. distinguished visitor, religious minister, etc.—each with its own stipulations and requirements to qualify for entry and stay. Under the new law the requirements are simplified, basically differentiating those foreigners who are allowed to work and those who are not. The law also expedites the permanent resident application process for retirees and other foreigners. For granting permanent residency, the law proposes using a point system based on factors such as level of education, employment experience, and scientific and technological knowledge.^[3]

According to Article 81 of the Law and Article 70 of the regulations to the law—published on 28 September 2012— Immigration officials are the only ones that can conduct immigration procedures although the Federal Police may assist but only under the request and guidance of the Institute of Migration. Verification procedures cannot be conducted in migrant shelters run by civil society organizations or by individuals that engage in providing humanitarian assistance to immigrants.

Undocumented immigration has been a problem for Mexico, especially since the 1970s. Although the number of deportations is declining with 61,034 registered cases in 2011, the Mexican government documented over 200,000 unauthorized border crossings in 2004 and 2005.^[4] In 2011, 93% of undocumented immigrants in Mexico came from three countries -Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador- however, there is an increasing amount of immigrants from Asia and Africa.^[5]

2015 Temporary Migrant Regularization Program

The Programa Temporal de Regularización Migratoria (PTRM) published on 12 January 2015 in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, is directed at those foreigners who have made their permanent residence in Mexico but due to 'diverse circumstances' did not regularize their stay in the country and find themselves turning to 'third parties' to perform various procedures, including finding employment.^[6]

The program is aimed at foreign nationals who entered the country before 9 November 2012.^[6] Foreigners wishing to live and be part of the national life of Mexico, will receive through the PTRM the status of 'temporary resident' by an immigration document that is valid for four years.^[6] The temporary program will run from 13 January to 18 December 2015.^[6]

In accordance with the provisions of Articles: 1 , 2, 10, 18 , 77, 126 and 133 of the Ley de Migración; 1 and 143 of the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración, any foreign national wishing to regularize their immigration status within Mexican territory, under the PTRM will complete the payment of fees for the following:

I. Proof of payment for receiving and examining the application of the procedure... ... MXN 1124.00 (USD 77.14 as of 12 January 2015)

II. For the issuance of the certificate giving them the status of temporary stay for four years ...... MXN 7914.00 (USD 514.17)

For people of low income or the vulnerable, Article 16 of the Ley Federal de Derechos will exempt them from payment if it can be proven that the foreign national earns a wage at or below minimum wage.^[6] During the period that the PTRM is in effect, no fine will be applied (as is the practice otherwise).^[6]

Immigrant groups in Mexico

Immigrants arrive in Mexico for many reasons, most of the documented immigrants have arrived for economic and/or work-related reasons. Many, such as executives, professionals, scientists, artists, or athletes working for either Mexican or foreign companies, arrive with secure jobs. Retirement is the main motivation for immigrants who tend to be more permanent. Aside from dual national descendants of Mexicans, naturalized Mexicans, or the undocumented, 262,672 foreign residents live on its soil. The majority of its foreign residents are from the U.S. followed by Spain and Guatemala.

American

The largest number of Americans outside the United States live in Mexico. According to Mexico 2010 Census, there are 738,103 Americans living in the Mexican Republic,^[1] while the US Embassy in Mexico City has at times given an estimate closer to 1 million (the disparity is due to non-permanent residents, notably the "snowbirds") . Mostly, people who come from the USA are students, retirees, religious workers (missionaries, pastors, etc.), Mexican-Americans, and spouses of Mexican citizens. A few are professors who come employed by Mexican companies to teach English, other English teachers, and corporate employees and executives.

While significant numbers live in Mexico year round, it is probable that a majority of these residents do not stay the whole year. Retirees may live half a year in the U.S. to keep retiree benefits. Those called "snowbirds" come in fall and leave in spring. The American community in Mexico is found throughout the country, but there are significant concentrations of U.S. citizens in all the north of Mexico, especially in Tijuana, Mexicali, Los Cabos, San Carlos, Mazatlán, Saltillo, Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo. Also in the central parts of the country such as San Miguel de Allende, Ajijic, Chapala, Mexico City and Cuernavaca, and along the Pacific coast, most especially in the greater Puerto Vallarta area. In the past few years, a growing American community has developed in Mérida, Yucatán.

Argentine

According to the 2010 census, there were 13,696 Argentine immigrants living in the country, mostly in Mexico City.^[1] Many of them emigrated trying to flee Argentina's dictatorships particularly during the 1970s . Aside from the expatriates, there are also Mexican-born citizens of Argentine descent.

Central American

The largest recent immigrant flows to Mexico are from Central America, with a total of 66,868 immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua living in Mexico in 2010.^[7]

Recently, Mexico has also become a transit route for Central Americans and others (Africans, Asians, and East Europeans) into the United States. 2014 was the first year since records began when more non-Mexicans than Mexicans were apprehended trying to enter the United States illegally through the U.S.-Mexico border.<ref name "Pew2014">"U.S. border apprehensions of Mexicans fall to historic lows". Pew Research. Retrieved 5 January 2015. </ref> Non-Mexicans (vast majority of whom are Central American) were up from about 68,000 in 2007 to 257,000 in 2014; Mexicans dropped from 809,000 to 229,000 during the same period.<ref name "Pew2014"/>

In 2014, Mexico began to more heavily crackdown on these transient migrants.^[8] According to Mexican officials, the Plan Frontera Sur (Southern Border Plan) is designed to retake control of the historically porous southern border and protect migrants from transnational crime groups.^[8] However the measures have been widely attributed to pressure from the United States, who does not want a repeat of 2014, when a surge of tens of thousands of women and children clogged up American immigration courts and resulted in a severe lack of space in detention centers at the US-Mexico border.^[8]

British

There are Mexicans of British origins, including English, Welsh and Scottish descent. According to Mexico's Migration Institute in 2009 there were 3,761 British expatriates living in Mexico.^[9]

Cornish culture still survives in local architecture and food in the state of Hidalgo. The Scottish and Welsh have also made their mark in Mexico, especially in the states of Hidalgo, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, and Veracruz. British immigrants formed the first football teams in Mexico in the late 19th century. Northern Spaniards of Celtic ancestry like the Asturians, Galicians, and Cantabrians, have also left an imprint in Mexican culture and their languages formed many distinct accents in various regions in Mexico, especially in the central and northern states.

French

Mexico received immigration from France in waves in the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the 2010 census, there were 7,163 French nationals living in Mexico.

The French language is taught and studied in secondary public education and in universities throughout the country. French is also heard in the state of Veracruz in the cities of Jicaltepec, San Rafael, Mentideros, and Los Altos, where the architecture and food is also very French. These immigrants came from Haute-Saône département in France, especially from Champlitte and Bourgogne.

Another important French group were the "Barcelonettes" from the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence département, who migrated specifically to Mexico to find jobs and work in merchandising and are well known in Mexico City, Puebla, Veracruz and Yucatán.

An important French village in Mexico is Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, where the French language and culture/architecture are still found. Other French cultural traits are in a number of regional cultures such as the states of Jalisco and Sinaloa.

The national folk music mariachi is thought to been named after the French word for "marriage" when the music developed in wedding parties held by French landowning families. It is the legacy of settlers brought in during the Napoleonic-era French occupation is found in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The Second Mexican Empire, created another trend of refuge for French settlers.

For the Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico from the Habsburg dynasty brought with him French, Austrian, Italian and Belgian troops, and after the fall of the Second Empire, most scattered through the area of the Empire. The descendants of these soldiers can be found in the state of Jalisco in the region called Los Altos de Jalisco and in many towns around this region and in Michoacán in cities like Coalcomán, Aguililla, Zamora, and Cotija.

These refugees intermixed with the Austrians, Galicians, Basques, Cantabrians, Italians, and Mexicans in those areas of Michoacán and Jalisco, as well as neighboring states.

During World War II, tens of thousands of French expatriates from Mexico participated in the Free French Forces and the French Resistance, including Mexican-born Lieutenant Rene Luis Campeon of French parentage, was thought to be the first in command to enter Paris during the Liberation of Paris from the retreating Nazis in August 1944.

Other Francophone peoples include those from Belgium such as the Walloons and Franco-Swiss from Switzerland. The Belgians, started by the veteran Ch. Loomans, tried to establish a Belgian colony in the state of Chihuahua called Nueva Bélgica, and hundreds of Belgian settlers established it, but many moved to the capital of the state and other towns around the area, where the Walloon and French could be heard.

The Occitan language can be heard in the state of Guanajuato, it is also known as Langue D'oc is a language originally spoken in Southern France. Also to note is the city Guanajuato has a sizable French expatriate community.

German

The Plautdietsch language, is spoken by descendants of German and Dutch Mennonite immigrants in the states of Chihuahua and Durango. Other German communities are in Nuevo León, Puebla, Mexico City, Sinaloa and Chiapas, and the Yucatán Peninsula. The largest German school outside of Germany is in Mexico City (Alexander von Humboldt school). These represent the large German populations where they still try to preserve the German culture (evident in its popular regional polka-like music types, conjunto and norteño) and language. Other strong German communities lie in Coahuila (notably the Mennonites), Chiapas (Tapachula) and other parts of Nuevo León (esp. the Monterrey area has a large German minority), Tamaulipas (the Rio Grande Valley in connections to German American culture and Mexican American or Tejano influences), Puebla (Nuevo Necaxa) where the German culture and language have been preserved to different extents. According to the 2010 census, there were 6,214 Germans living in Mexico.^[1]

Of special interest is the settlement Villa Carlota: that was the name under which two German farming settlements, in the villages of Santa Elena and Pustunich in Yucatán, were founded during the Second Mexican Empire (1864–1867).^[10] Villa Carlota attracted a total of 443 German-speaking immigrants, most of them were farmers and artisans who emigrated with their families: the majority came from Prussia and many among them were Protestants.^[11] Although in general these immigrants were well received by the hosting society, and the Imperial government honored to the extent of its capabilities the contract it offered to these farmers, the colonies collapsed in 1867.^[12] After the disintegration of Villa Carlota as such, some families migrated to other parts of the peninsular, into the United States and back to Germany. Many stayed in Yucatán, where we can find descendents of these pioneers with last names such as Worbis, Dietrich and Sols, among others.^[13]

Included in the ethnic German immigration to Mexico are from Austria, Switzerland and the French region of Alsace which was part of France since 1919, as well those from Bavaria and High German regions of Germany.

Irish

There are roughly 300,000 Mexicans of Irish descent. There is also an Irish-Mexican population in Hidalgo and the northern states. According to INM, in 2009 there were 289 Irish expatriates living in Mexico.^[14]

Many Mexican Irish communities existed in Mexican Texas until the revolution. Many Irish then sided with Catholic Mexico against Protestant pro-US elements. The Batallón de San Patricio, a battalion of U.S. troops who deserted and fought alongside the Mexican Army against the United States in the Mexican–American War (1846–48). In some cases, Irish immigrants or Americans left from California (the Irish Confederate army of Fort Yuma, Arizona during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65). Álvaro Obregón (O'Brien) was president of Mexico during 1920-24 and Ciudad Obregón and its airport are named in his honor. Actor Anthony Quinn is another famous Mexican of Irish descent. There are also monuments in Mexico City paying tribute to those Irish who fought for Mexico in the 19th century.

Italian

There has not been a huge influx of Italians to Mexico, as there has been to other countries in America such as Argentina, Brazil, and the United States. However, there was an important number of arrivals from northern Italy and Veneto in the late 19th century who are today well assimilated in Mexican society. The exact number of Italian descendants is not known, but it is estimated that there around 30,000 Italian Mexicans in the eight original communities. According to INM in 2009 there were 5,539 Italians living in Mexico.^[14] It is also estimated about 450,000 Mexicans have Italian ancestry in the 2000s (decade).

Russian

According to INM in 2009 1,396 Russians living in Mexico.^[9] Most left Russia during its communist regime (Soviet Union), taking advantage of the Mexican law allowing migrants from communist countries refuge if they touch Mexican soil, and the ability to become legal residents of Mexico. The Molokans were a small early 20th century immigrant group to Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California.

Spanish

Spaniards make up the largest group of Europeans in Mexico. Most of them arrived during the colonial period but others have since then immigrated, especially during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) and the Francisco Franco regime (1939–75).

The first Spaniards who arrived in Mexico, were soldiers and sailors of Extremadura, Andalucia and La Mancha who discovered the Yucatán Peninsula, the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and then made the conquest of what they call the New Spain. Among the soldiers sent by the Spanish crown to the colonial territory were Muslims converts from Córdoba and Granada. At the end of the 16th century, both common and aristocrat people migrated to Mexico and disseminated by its territory.

Most recent immigrants came during the Spanish Civil War. Some of the migrants returned to Spain after the civil war, but some of them remained in Mexico. According to the 2010 census, there were 18,873 Spaniards living in Mexico.^[1]

Due to the 2008 Financial Crisis and the resulting economic decline and high unemployment in Spain, many Spaniards have been emigrating to Mexico to seek new opportunities.^[15] For example, during the last quarter of 2012, a number of 7,630 work permits were granted to Spaniards.^[16]

The article on Basque Mexicans covers the large segment of Spaniards and some French immigrants of the Basque ethnic group.

Other European

Scandinavian languages and traditions can also be heard in Chihuahua, such as Swedish, Finnish, Danish, and Norwegian in Nueva Escandinavia and other Scandinavian colonies in the north of the country. Small waves of immigrants from Poland, Ukraine and other Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania etc.), arrived during the Cold War.

Small but notable European nations supplied immigrants to Mexico are Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Cyprus, Greece (See Greek Mexican), Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, the island country of Malta and the Portuguese from Portugal and Cape Verde.

Arab

Ethnologue reports that 400,000 Mexicans speak Arabic.^[17]

The Arab Mexican population consists of Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians, whose families arrived in Mexico after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. The majority of them are Christian but some are Muslims.

Business tycoon and billionaire Carlos Slim Helú is the best-known Mexican of this immigrant group, as he is currently ranked by Forbes as the richest man in the world. His parents, Maronite Christians, immigrated to Mexico from Lebanon.

Other West Asian

Other members of the Middle Eastern community in Mexico include Armenians, smaller numbers of Persians from Iran, and Turks from Turkey.

East and Southeast Asian

Mexico throughout history has seen immigration from different parts of Asia. The largest are ethnic Chinese but the rapidly growing Korean Mexican population is also noted. The first known East Asians were imported labor from the Philippines, southern China and Korea under the Spaniards in indentured servitude from the 16th to early 19th centuries. They were known as Henequen and Chinetescos were heavily concentrated in agricultural plantations in the Pacific states (i.e. Sinaloa) and the Yucatán Peninsula.

Koreans are a more recent wave of immigrants who came to Mexico in the early 20th century and most recently towards the end of the last century.^[18] Koreans are most numerous in the coastal regions like Baja California, Sonora, Guerrero, Veracruz, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. According to INM, in 2009 there were 5,518 South Koreans and 481 North Koreans living in México^[14]

The story of Chinese immigration to Mexico extends from the late 19th century to the 1930s. By the 1920s, there was a significant population of Chinese nationals, with Mexican wives and Chinese-Mexican children. Most of these were deported in the 1930s to the United States and China with a number being repatriated in the late 1930s and in 1960. Smaller groups returned from the 1930s to the 1980s. The two main Chinese-Mexican communities are in Mexicali and Mexico City but few are of pure Chinese blood.^[19]

The city of Mexicali in Baja California has the largest Chinese population in Mexico and the largest Chinatown called La Chinesca. The culture and language from the mainly Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking peoples are evident in the food, architecture, and everyday life in Mexico City. The Chinese entered the nation in the 19th century to build railroads, and many xenophobic acts were taken against them because Mexico preferred European immigrants. According to the 2010 Census there are 6,655 Chinese immigrants living in Mexico.^[1]

Other Asian communities in Mexico are the Japanese, followed by Indians and Pakistanis, and there are Filipinos from the Philippines when the country was under Spanish colonial (1540's-1898) and U.S. American territorial rule (1899–1946). These ethnic groups arrived in the northern states of Mexico as contract farm laborers in the 20th century. And the small Vietnamese community, although in close connection with the Vietnamese American community in the United States. The majority of Asian Mexicans live in urban areas or along the US-Mexican border, probably in attempt to enter and reside in the US.

The Japanese community is also important in Mexico, and they reside mainly in Mexico City, Morelia, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Guadalajara, and Aguascalientes, and their immigrant colony in the state of Chiapas called Colonia Enomoto. The Japanese are very important in their cultural life in Mexico and many institutions for their descendants and those wishing to learn the language and their ways of life can attend these lyceums. According to INM, in 2009 there were 4,485 Japanese immigrants residing in Mexico.^[9]

There are approximately 200,000 (0.2%) Mexican people who can partly claim Filipino ancestry from long ago colonial times. The Philippines had a connection to Mexico through Spain, as it was administrated from New Spain for over 300 years. According to INM, in 2009 there were 823 immigrants from the Philippines residing in Mexico.^[9]

Numbers of people by nationality in Mexico

Most foreigners in Mexico counted in the Census come from the United States or other Hispanophone countries, with smaller numbers from Europe, East Asia, and the non-Hispanophone Americas. Their numbers have been rising as the country's economy develops, but still comprise less than 1% of the population.

Place	Country	2010	2000	1990
1	United States	738,103	343,591	194,619
2	Guatemala	35,322	23,597	46,005
3	Spain	18,873	21,024	24,783
4	Colombia	13,922	6,465	4,635
5	Argentina	13,696	6,215	4,964
6	Cuba	12,108	5,537	5,217
7	Honduras	10,991	3,722	1,997
8	Venezuela	10,063	2,823	1,533
9	El Salvador	8,088	6,647	2,979
10	Canada	7,943	5,768	3,011
11	France	7,163	5,723	4,195
12	China	6,655	2,100	1,161
13	Germany	6,214	5,595	4,499
14	Peru	5,886	3,749	1,633
15	Chile	5,267	3,848	2,501
16	Italy	4,964	3,904	2,397
17	Brazil	4,532	2,320	1,293
18	South Korea	3,960	2,079	1,161
19	Nicaragua	3,572	2,522	1,521
	Other countries	43,799	37,126	32,487
TOTAL		961,121	492,617	340,246
Source: INEGI (2000),[20] CONAPO (1990)[21][22] and INEGI (2010)[23]

See Also

• Immigration to the United States
• Immigration to Canada
• Immigration to Brazil
• Immigration to Argentina
• Immigration to Chile
• Immigration to Nicaragua
• Immigration to Colombia
• Immigration to Venezuela
• Immigration to Peru
• Immigration to Costa Rica
• Immigration to Guatemala

References

External links

• Instituto Nacional de Migración
• Programa Temporal de Regularización Migratoria

Immigration to North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States Dependencies and other territories Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands

Ethnic groups in Mexico Mexico Mexican Indigenous peoples of Mexico Mestizo From Africa Angolan Egyptian Kenyan Moroccan From the Americas American Argentine Brazilian Canadian Chilean Colombian Cuban Guatemalan Honduran Nicaraguan Peruvian Salvadoran Uruguayan Venezuelan From Asia Chinese Filipino Indian Japanese Mexico City Korean From Europe British (Cornish · English · Scottish · Welsh) Czech Dutch French German Greek Irish Italian Polish Portuguese Russian Spanish (Basque · Catalan · Galician · Valencian) Swiss Ukrainian From the Middle East Arab (Lebanese · Syrian) Armenian Iranian Turkish From Elsewhere Jewish Mennonite Romani