The History of Mexican Immigration to the United States

(1882-2020)

Rafael Alarcón

El Colegio de la Frontera Norteralarcon@colef.mx

Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative. Fresno, California. May 19, 2020

Pew Research, 2015

Northern Region

Traditional Sending Region

Central Region

South and South-East Region

Mexican Migration to the U.S. by Sending Region

Source: CONAPO, 2000

History of Mexican Migration to the US

1.From Chinese Exclusion to Mexican Inclusion (1882-1920)

2.Restriction to Immig & Deportation of Mexicans (1921-1942)

3.The Bracero Program (1942-1964)

4.The Era of Undocumented Migration (1965-1986)

5. The Immigration Reform & Control Act (1986-1993)

6.Restriction & Criminalization of Immigrants (1993 -2020)

(Alarcón, 2011; Alanís & Alarcón, 2016)

▪ 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

“From Chinese Exclusion to Mexican Inclusion”

▪ 1907 “Gentlemen‘s Agreement”

▪ 1917 Immigration Act

▪ (Literacy Test and 8 Dollar Tax)

▪ Labor Recruitment System

▪ Paso del Norte

▪ Sending region: Central Western Mexico (Guajalmich)

▪ Construction and maintenance of tracks “traque”, farmworkers, mining workers and industrial workers in Chicago, Detroit and Gary.

▪ Chavindeños in WWI.

Don Rodolfo from Chavinda to El Paso, Santa Fe and France.

“Unos agentes del gobierno norteamericano fueron a buscarlos a su lugar de trabajo y les dijeron que "así como los Estados U nidos les habían ayudado, así ellos debían ayudar a los Estados Unidos, por lo que tenían que ingresar al ejército para ir a la guerra". Los siete chavindeños fueron enviados a Europa, al frente de Francia. Afortunadamente, todos ellos regresaron con vida” (Alarcon, 1989).

The First Norteños from Chavinda (1910-1919)

(Alarcon, 1989)

2(1921-1942)

Restriction to Immigration and Deportation of Mexicans

▪ “National Origins Quota System” - 1921 y 1924 > 1965

▪ Great Depression of 1929 > Deportation and voluntary repatriation of nearly half a million Mexicans.

“During the Great Depression … between 1929 and 1935, over415,000 Mexicans were deported from the United States, includingmany U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. This figure does not includethose repatriated of their own volition or by the Mexicangovernment” (Hoffman, 1974: 126).

(Gamio, 1930)

3(1942-1964)

The Bracero Program

Bracero Program (1942-1964)

“Programa mexicano-estadounidense de prestación de mano de obra”

Two programs:

➢Agriculture: (1942-1964) 4.6 million contracts

(Garcia y Griego 1996: 49)

➢Railroad tracks: (1943-1945) 80,000 contracts in 1944

Maintenance (Galarza, 1964: 54)

Three periods in the development of the BP

1.- Wartime Cooperation (1942-1946)

2.- Transition and Conflict (1947-1954)

3.- Stability and Termination (1955-1964)

(Garcia y Griego, 1996)

Braceros from Chavinda interviewed by Armstrong in 1946

Source: Alarcón (2007) with data from Armstrong, 1949.

Nombre Edad E

C

Ocupación en

Chavinda

Año de

salida

Meses

en EU

ngresos

en EU

(dol.)

Ahorros Inversión en Chavinda

Agustín 27 C Peq. propietario 1943 36 - 1,000 Compra de 5 has temporal, casa y lote

Emiliano 25 C Tendero 1945 12 1,400 1,000 Compra de casa gastos de boda

Juan 45 C Musico 1945 6 - 500 Compra de casa y gastos por enfermedad

José 35 C Emp. Panadería 1944 6 600 290 Pago deudas y ayuda a Iglesia

Jesús 46 C Ejidatario 1945 6 500 200 Compra de casa y pago deudas

Luis 46 C Jornalero agrícola 1945 6 900 600 Inversión en cerdos y pago deudas

José 30 C Jornalero agrícola 1944 4.5 800 500 Compra de casa e inversión en cerdos

Jesús 27 S Jornalero agrícola 1945 6 700 500 Compra de casa y semilla

Eulalio 25 C Jornalero agrícola 1945 7 800 425 Pago deudas y gastos de mediero

Francisco 34 C Jornalero agrícola 1943 4 525 400 Compra de casa y gastos enfermedad de esposa

Jesús 25 C Jornalero agrícola 1943 6 1,200 400 Compra de casa y gastos por enfermedad

Rafael 35 C Jornalero agrícola 1943 6 750 400 Inversión en granos y gastos por enfermedad

José 25 C Jornalero agrícola 1945 6 700 400 Inversión en cerdos y vacas

Pedro C Jornalero agrícola 1945 7 660 350 Compra de casa y pago deudas

José 37 C Jornalero agrícola 1945 6 650 350 Compra de casa y pago deudas

Luis 30 C Jornalero agrícola 1943 4.5 600 350 Pago deudas y gastos por enfermedad en la familia

Pedro 27 C Jornalero agrícola 1944 5 800 300 Compra de lote y gastos por enfermedad de

esposa

Texas Proviso of 1952

Through the McCarran - Walter Act, it became a punishment offense to harbor and concealundocumented migrant workers, although article274(a) estipulated that employment could not be considered as harboring and concealment.

(Ernesto Galarza, 1964: 62)

4(1965-1986)

The Era of Undocumented Migration

1965 IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (“Hart-Celler Act”)

The 1965 INA banned the restrictive national origins quota system established in 1921 and led to a more diverse universe of legal immigrants, adhering to criteria of family reunification and occupational skills (Portes and Rumbaut, 2006).

White House Photo Office; Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidental Library & Museum Public Domain

Male, undocumented, circular migration

▪ Settlement of former Braceros and their familiesin California and other states.

▪ Porous Border - Tijuana: main crossing point.

▪ Begining of “policy of no policy” by the Mexicangovernment.

García y Griego (1988: 147)

Social Networks

”Once international migration begins, social networksdevelop to make foreign employment increasinglyaccesible to all classes of the sending society”

(Massey, Alarcon, Durand and Gonzalez, 1987: 285)

Cañon Zapata, Tijuana: Early 1980’s

Cañón Zapata: Porous Border

Border Patrol Agents in Cañon Zapata, 1988

Norteñización de Chavinda

“Women used to cry when their men would go North, now they cry when they don’t go”

Old former Bracero from Chavinda, 1982.

(Alarcón, 1992)

5(1986-1993)

The Immigration Reform and Control Act

▪ “General Amnesty” and Special Agricultural Workers Program

▪ Sanctions against Employers.

▪ Increased Border Enforcement

More than 3 million persons obtained legal permanent residency, 2.3

million from Mexico.

Legal Mexican Immigration to the United States by Sex (1986-1996)

Source: Alarcón, 2011 with data from Immigration and Naturalization Service, 2000

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1,000,000

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Año

Hombres

Mujeres

(Alarcón, 1995)

(Alarcón, 1995)

6(1993 - 2020)

Restriction and Criminalization of Immigrants

▪ 1990 IMMIGRATION ACT More Legal Inmigration, employment reasons (more skilled migrants).

▪ 1993 Increased Border Enforcement(Operation Hold the Line, Operation Gatekeeper, etc).

▪ 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform And Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA).

▪ 2001 Patriot Act

▪ 2002 Massive formal deportations from the interior of the US (Removals)

(Alarcón, 2011)

Characteristics of Chavinda’s Families Re-Interviewed in 2001

n=184

Source: Massey, Douglas, Rafael Alarcón, Jorge Durand & Humberto González, 1987 & Public Policy Institute of California Survey, 2001 (Reyes, Johnson & Van Swearingen, 2002).

Sin

información

10%

Hogares

entrevistado

s

70%

Hogares

residentes

en EU

20%

Place of Residence in the United States of immigrants from Chavinda in 2000

Source: Massey, Douglas, Rafael Alarcón, Jorge Durand & Humberto González, 1987 & Public Policy Institute of California Survey, 2001 (Reyes, Johnson & Van Swearingen, 2002: 106).

Number %

Oakland - Berkeley 185 41.7

Metropolitan LA

38 8.6

Madera - Fresno 51 11.5

Salinas 62 14.0

Other 108 24.3

Total 444 100.0

• The intersection of the criminal justice system and immigration enforcement.

• Shift from judicial to non judicial removals.

From Immigration judges to DHS enforcement officials

• Use of previously little-used immigration-related criminal charges = “criminal aliens”

(Meissner et al, MPI, 2013)

2002 Department of Homeland Security

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Rise in Formal Deportations (Removals) in Post 9/11 Era

2002 - The 287(g) ProgramSection 287(g) of Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

It allows a state and local law enforcement entities to enter into a partnership with ICE, under a joint Memorandum of Agreement.

2008 - Secure Communities (discontinued in Nov 2014) Priority Enforcement Program

Fingerprint-based biometric data submitted during bookings by state and local law enforcement agencies to the FBI for criminal background checks.

(Meissner et al, MPI, 2013)

Removals and Returns

• Removals: Based on an order of removal with administrative or criminal consequences. Deportees are banned from entering the US for 5, 10, 20 years or forever.

• Returns: Not based on an order of removal with no administrative or criminal consequences. Most of the voluntary returns are of Mexican nationals who have been apprehended by the Border Patrol and are returned to Mexico.

(Department of Homeland Security, 2011)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Mile

s

Removals/Non-Criminal Removals/Criminal Returns % removals

Mexican Migrants by Type of Deportation from the U.S. (2000-2017)

Source: Calva and Alarcón (2018) with data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security , 2018

Removed Migrants by Criminal Status and Country

of Nationality, 2013

Total Criminals Non Criminals

Total 438,421 198,394 100.0 240,027

%

100.0

1 Mexico 314,904 146,298 73.7 168,606 70.2

2 Guatemala 46,866 15,365 7.7 31,501 13.1

3 Honduras 36,526 16,609 8.4 19,917 8.3

4 El Salvador 20,862 9,440 4.8 11,422 4.8

5 Dominican Republic 2,278 1,805 0.9 473 0.2

6 Ecuador 1,491 580 0.3 911 0.4

7 Colombia 1,421 956 0.5 465 0.2

8 Brazil 1,411 366 0.2 1,045 0.4

9 Other countries 12,662 6,975 3.5 5,687 2.4

Source: Alarcón (2016) with data from U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2014

Deportation Policy under Trump

• Expanding the grounds for the removal of non-citizens in the interior of the U.S.

Executive Order of 1/25/2017

• Expansion of Expedited Removal to the interior the U.S. (7/23/2019)

(Before: 2 weeks of arrival and within 100 miles of the border).

• Reactivation of the Secure Communities Program.

• Worksite Enforcement Operations.

Conclusions

• U.S. Immigration policy by action or omission sought to construct the Mexican migrant as a temporary worker.

• Social networks are very effective for first generationmigrants.

• Removals: Ultimate Solution to the “Undocumented Problem” in the US ?.

GRACIAS ¡¡¡

Rafael Alarcón

ralarcon@colef.mx

Bibliography

• Alanís Enciso, Fernando Saúl y Rafael Alarcón Acosta (Coordinadores), 2016, El ir y venir de los Norteños. La historia de la migración mexicana a Estados Unidos (S. XIX- XXI). México: El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, El Colegio de San Luis A.C. y El Colegio de Michoacán.

• Alarcón, Rafael. 2011, “U.S. Immigration Policy and the Mobility of Mexicans (1882-2005)” Migraciones Internacionales 20, Vol. 6, Num. 1. Enero - Junio (pp. 185-218).

• Alarcón, Rafael. 2007, “Restricciones a la inmigración en Estados Unidos y movimiento agrario en Chavinda, Michoacán (1920-1942)” Relaciones. Estudios de Historia y Sociedad Vol. XXVIII, Num. 110 (pp. 155-187).

• Alarcón Rafael. 2003, "La formación de una diáspora: migrantes de Chavinda en California" en Gustavo López Castro, (Ed.) Diáspora michoacana. El Colegio de Michoacán y Gobierno del Estado de Michoacán.

• Alarcón Rafael. 1995, Immigrants or Transnational Workers ?: The Settlement Process among Mexicans in Rural California. Report for the California Institute for Rural Studies. Davis, California.

• Alarcón Rafael. 1992, "Norteñización. Self-Perpetuating Migration from a Mexican Town." Jorge Bustamante, Clark Reynolds y Raul Hinojosa, (Eds.) U.S. - Mexico Relations. Labor Market Interdependence. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

• Alarcón Rafael. 1989, "Los primeros 'norteños' de Chavinda" Zendejas Sergio, (Ed.) Estudios Michoacanos # 3. Zamora: El Colegio de Michoacán.

• Massey Douglas, Rafael Alarcón, Jorge Durand y Humberto González. 1987, Return to Aztlan. The Social Process of International Migration from Western Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press.