A Brief History of Mexican Immigration to the United States
Few countries have as much of a strong and symbiotic relationship as Mexico and the United States. Since the railroads connected the two countries, there have been millions of Mexicans working in the U.S. at any given time. Much of the American food supply was, and still is, dependent on Mexican labor. Despite the U.S. having one of, if not the most diverse immigrant pools in the world, Mexico has been the most represented country for decades. A full 25% of all foreign born immigrants in the U.S. were born in Mexico.
Not only has this relationship benefitted the U.S. enormously, it has greatly benefitted Mexicans and the Mexican economy. Sending money home has always been a primary motivator for working in the U.S. In fact, in 2017 money sent from the U.S. to Mexico amounted to 3% of the Mexican GDP! More money was sent back on a per-person basis to Mexico than any other major country in the world!
Here, I will review the history of Mexican migration to the U.S. This gives context to my research into the relationship between Mexican regional migration and restaurant names in the United States (Part 1 and Part 2 can be found here).
A Brief History of Mexican Immigration to the United States
The first “immigrants” to the United States lived there before the land was even American! After the secession of Texas, the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) led to the American Southwest being ceded to the U.S. With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexicans living in what became U.S. territory had a choice: remain, and become U.S. citizens or “return” (i.e., move) to Mexico. Of the approximately 100,000 Mexicans living in this newly-American land, about two thirds moved to Mexico, while one third stayed and became American citizens.
Until the 1900’s, the few Mexicans in the U.S. were all in the American Southwest. Then, between 1900 and the 1920’s Mexican immigration grew. Driven by the invention and expansion of the railway (which made travel to the U.S. possible) and (racist) immigration quotas being set on other countries that traditionally sent laborers, many Mexicans took advantage the higher wages given to agriculture and railroad workers in the U.S. After a harvest, agricultural workers were no longer useful to their employers and were kicked out of their boarding houses. Many workers returned to their homes in Mexico but some remained in nearby cities, leading to resentment among local residents.
The conflict came to a head at the onset of the Great Depression. In this period, the “Mexican Problem” was solved, brutally: the U.S. government indiscriminately sent anyone who looked Mexican to Mexico. In total, around 2 million people were deported, including 1.2 million American citizens!
Mexican immigration continued in earnest in 1942. Lacking enough labor to fill the war economy, the U.S. and Mexico set up the “Bracero Program,” a series of agreements that encouraged Mexican immigration to the United States. These braceros (“workers,” coming from the Spanish brazo, “arm”) filled the labor shortage and brought money to the Mexican government which was entitled to 20% of their wages. With these agreements, both the U.S. and Mexico could more tightly control the place of origin and destination for Mexican immigrants. It was beneficial to Mexico because it helped reduce unemployment in the poor, rural Central regions and stimulated the local and national economies with the money sent to the government and the workers’ families. Workers who wanted to avoid this exploitative system then started to enter the U.S. in secret and find work themselves. Wanting to stop this, the U.S. government, for the first time, began to police the border by setting up the Border Control division. Despite these efforts, only one out of every three immigrants who crossed the border was apprehended.
The Bracero program lasted until 1964. Meanwhile, the Red Scare turned the tide on the American government’s acceptance of Mexican immigration: “Operation Wetback” deported around 1.2 million immigrants, mainly from California and Texas. This, in addition to the 1965 “Hart-Celler Act” which ended many immigration quotas, severely dampening Mexican immigration.
Between 1965 and 1986, nearly 28 million Mexicans entered the U.S. illegally, with 23.4 million leaving. This porous border was closed in 1986 with the “Immigration Reform and Control Act” (IRCA). Conservatives, annoyed at the visible presence of Mexicans in American cities, passed IRCA in order to close the border. But, in order to get it passed they granted citizenship to any law-abiding Mexican who arrived before 1982. This led to 2.3 million new citizens and a hard border between the two countries. Anyone who entered without citizenship, was (and still is) forced to live in hiding within the United States since it was (and is) very difficult to cross the border. Therefore, ironically, this law led to the increase in permanent migration! A series of laws in 1996 and the PATRIOT Act of 2001 attempted to reverse the upward trend of Mexican immigration. Futher still, between 2008 and 2016, fromer President Obama deported more people than any previous president. The situation did not improve much with President Trump largely running on an anti-immigrant platform.
For largely economic reasons, migration had started to decline in the early 2000’s until a net decrease in the number of Mexicans living in the U.S. began in 2007.
Destinations of Mexican Immigrants
Mexican immigration to the U.S. has almost always been led by higher-paying job opportunities for unskilled labor. Agricultural work was, and still is, a very important source of employment for Mexican immigrants. Naturally, this led people to rural areas, mainly in the American Southwest and Texas. With the mechanization of agriculture that started in the 1980’s, there was less opportunity for low-skilled agricultural workers. Therefore, many immigrants started moving to major American cities. In addition, with the economic improvements that have occurred within Mexico, many immigrants to the United States are college educated and have strong English skills.
Between 2012 and 2016, 26% of all Mexicans in the U.S. can be found in three metro areas: Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. The chart above shows the relative number of Mexicans in different metro areas of the U.S. One can clearly see the large concentration of Mexicans in California (37% of total in U.S.) and Texas (22%).
Regional Origins Of Mexican Immigrants in the U.S.
The Mexicans who came to the U.S. were traditionally from Northern and Central Mexico, both largely rural areas of Mexico. This started to change in the 1980’s and 1990’s in response to the IRCA and the newfound ability to stay in the United States. As the labor market expanded from its agricultural beginning, more skilled workers are coming to the U.S. from Mexico, including Mexicans from urban areas, creating a new development in Mexican immigration to the U.S.
The existence of chain migration is undeniable for Mexican migration to the U.S. There are clear patterns in terms of the region that sends immigrants to specific U.S. cities, e.g.: Jaliscans to Boston. This is especially clear when one tracks remittances (determined from the U.S. census and Mexican consulates) as shown in the chart above. On a local level, “hometown associations” are social clubs that work together for projects in Mexico, such as a church in La Purísima, Michoacán funded by a group in Chicago (with help from the Mexican government).
Conclusion
Mexican immigration in the U.S. is clearly tied to the labor opportunities presented to the new arrivals. In the past, this labor was confined to the agricultural areas of the Southwest. Today, the labor is largely found in metro areas throughout the U.S., primarily in Texas and California. The openness of the land border between the countries has largely determined whether immigration is temporary or permanent. Since the 1970’s, this has clearly augmented the number of immigrants who decide to stay. Now, due to chain migration, pockets of Mexicans from specific regions of Mexico are the majority of Mexican immigrants in certain cities in the U.S. Despite the often racist and unjust policies levied against Mexican immigration, the Mexican presence in America is permanent and will remain so for generations.
