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Mass migration flows result from structural causes such as international wage
differentials, relative stability of employment in destination countries, relative
deprivation in sending countries and historical linkages between sending and receiving
nations. Migration is equally a social phenomenon that affects individuals, families and
whole communities who build and maintain social webs or networks across great
physical and political boundaries, and even generations. Regardless of the kind of
migration flow, migrant communities in the destination country maintain real and
symbolic connections to their home countries, while simultaneously developing ties
that bind them to the receiving country.
This study proposes a twofold approach for analyzing these ties. First, by means of
secondary data analysis, this study looks at reported social and economic ties of
Mexican migrants to both sending and receiving contexts. The analyses establish
patterns of settlement, circulation and return in Mexican migration flows and
identifies several of the key variables that influence decisions of migrants in following
one of these migration strategies. After establishing these patterns and influences, and
confirming the existence of a dynamic community with constant trans-border
movement, the study turns to an analysis of transnational social fields observed in the
Phoenix area. Through a series of interviews with Mexican migrants in the Phoenix
area, there emerges an image of transnational kinship groups, transnational labor
circuits, and formation of a transnational community in which migrants have similar
social and economic ties, as well as shared symbolic ties to the homeland and host
communities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................... 98
Studies show that mass migration flows are set off as a result of structural causes such as
deprivation in sending countries and historical linkages between sending and receiving nations
(respectively Todaro and Maruszko 1987; Stark and Bloom 1985; Stark et al. 1986, 1988; Portes and
Walton 1981, Petras 1981, Sassen 1988, and Morawska 1990, as cited in Massey et al. 1998). Yet,
structural explanations are not sufficient alone to explain the continued and growing global
population movements of today. Contemporary theories hold that migration is equally a social
phenomenon that affects individuals, families and whole communities who build and maintain social
webs or networks across great physical, political boundaries, and even generations (Massey 1987;
Massey et al.1993). Moreover, migration is not a fixed and immutable phenomenon, but one that
eventually goes through transformations resulting in entirely different forms and processes of
population movement (Massey et al.1993; Robert et al.1999). For instance, individuals who initially
begin as circular labor migrants, or even refugees, often settle in the host country and propel further
migration through family reunification. Likewise, those who may have emigrated with settlement in
mind may, upon discovering the receiving context is not as idyllic as originally supposed, return to
Regardless of the kind of migration flow, migrant communities in the destination country
maintain real and symbolic connections to their home countries, while simultaneously developing
ties that bind them to the receiving country. The resulting social structure is what has been termed
transnationalism and has come to the fore in recent years as one of the effects of globalization,
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expansion of modern capitalistic markets into peripheral nations and continued migration to core
Much theoretical debate has occurred around the nature of transnationalism. While some
choose to discuss transnationalism as a unique and new social space, distinct from both sending and
receiving cultures, this study chooses to treat it as a midpoint between the culture of the homeland
and complete acculturation to the majority social group. In this social space created between the two
extremes we find both a mixing of cultural activities and the potential for a truly new social space.
Whether or not the genesis of this new social field occurs may depend upon the level of continued
migration, circulation between homeland and immigration countries, the nature of exit and
reception, and the preservation of culture in the future generations. Thus, cultural outcomes in the
context of reception have been treated as a continuum with transnationalism occurring somewhere
between the extremes of cultural isolation1 and complete assimilation and acculturation.
There has always been some level of circular movement between countries and even a few
historic transnational communities, resulting from diasporas and expatriate enclaves, that combine
elements from the home and host societies (Portes et al. 1999). Recent studies in transnationalism
have therefore focused not on whether transnationalism and the emergence of transnational social
fields are something new or unique, but rather, if they have become more “regular,” “routinized”
and “institutionalized” (Portes et al. 1999). Portes et al. point out that:
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This outcome would possibly be concentrated in ethnic enclaves if no opportunity for return migration exist.
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For all their significance, early transnational economic and political enterprises were not
normative or even common among the vast majority of immigrants, nor were they under
girded by the thick web of regular instantaneous communication and easy personal travel
that we encounter today (Portes et al.1999).
The question then is - how has the migration process changed in recent years such that today’s
migrants are no longer simply assimilated into the mainstream, or alternatively isolated from the
majority in small enclaves, but rather have options such as “cultural pluralism” (Gordon 1964, as
discussed in Alba and Nee 1997) and the development of hybrid transnational identities? This trend
has been explained as a result of the growing effects of globalization, including improved
accessibility to communication and transportation, as well as the increased scope and complexity of
The concept of transnationalism combines historical concepts of cultural blends and hybrids
and includes elements such as biculturalism, bilingualism, reinforcement of national identity in the
exterior (i.e. trans-local solidarity), as well as social, political, and economic practices that are
However, debate does exist within the community studying transnationalism as to its exact
definition. While Alejando Portes has delimited the study of transnationalism to transnational
entrepreneurial activities and other “occupations and activities that require regular and sustained
social contacts over time across national borders” (Portes et al. 1999), Steven Vertovec has taken a
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This definition implies the existence of a transnational field or milieu in which transnational
identities are shaped. Consistent with this characterization of transnationalism, Bryan R. Roberts et
al. operationalize the concept of border-spanning relationships in their study of Mexican migrants
communities in Austin, Texas (Roberts et al. 1999). They choose to define transnational
relationships, practices, and norms that include both places of origin and places of destination”
(Roberts et al. 1999). By defining a transnational community in terms of its activities, such as the
economic activities Portes describes, and interpersonal connections, Roberts et al. are able to apply
Transnationalization in international migration: implications for the study of citizenship and culture, by creating a
typology of transnational social spaces (Faist 2000b). Faist identifies three categories of social spaces
that transcend national boundaries: transnational kinship groups, transnational circuits and
familial responsibility to maintain ties to the home community. He includes among the activities for
these kinship groups the common practice of remittances of earnings to family in the home country
and the mutual support networks provided by family members to the newly arrived migrant in the
United States. Transnational circuits also rely on social obligations, but often result in the
exploitation of the newly arrived co-nationals by the more established and experienced migrants.
Common language and cultural practices form the ties that link migrants in transnational circuits.
Transnational circuits often include entrepreneurial activities such as formal and informal courier
services, money transfers, check cashing, and the establishments that offer goods and services for
the consumption of co-nationals (see “ethnic enclaves” Portes 1990; Massey et al. 1994).
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Transnational communities, on the other hand, are characterized by a collective solidarity in
which shared “ideas, beliefs, evaluations and symbols” are demonstrated in a common collective
identity. In the US context, this solidarity may take the form of what has alternately been called
‘resilient ethnicity,’ ‘reactive formation’ and ‘reactive ethnicity’ (Portes and Rumbaut 1990; Popkin
1999) as well as a mobilization of resources and individuals around abstract symbolic ties to the
Thus, transnationalism and transnational social fields are one of the possible outcomes of
mass migration in which some form of social, economic or symbolic ties are maintained with the
homeland and where some kind of international circulation is present (either by individuals
themselves, stand-ins of some kind such as couriers, or “virtual” return through communication
technologies). As indicated, these transnational activities and identities may take the form of either
‘hybrids’ of home and destination practices (Glick-Schiller et al.1995) or the creation of an entirely
new practices and identities as a response to the receiving community (Popkin 1999; Nagengast and
Kearney 1990; Guarnizo 1997). Furthermore, the form, degree, strength, and frequency of contact
with the homeland may influence the manifestation of the individual migrant's transnational identity,
In the past two decades specifically, there has been a significant upsurge in the magnitude,
Consequently, many migration researchers have studied evolving transnational communities such as:
Columbian migrants in New York and Los Angeles and their transnational economic, social and
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political involvement (Guarnizo and Diaz 1999), transnational economic enterprises of
Salvadoran refugee groups in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. (Landolt et al. 1999), emergence of
transnational “social spaces” among Turks living in Germany (Faist 2000), social networks among
Salvadoran migrants in San Francisco (Menjivar 2000), Guatemalan Mayan church groups in Los
Angeles and connection to home villages via clergy (Popkin 1999) and transnational Mexican labor
migrants of rural and urban origin in Austin, Texas (Roberts et al. 1999). These studies endeavor to
define the theoretical concepts of transnationalism and transnational social spaces, detail the current
practices and activities of transnationals, and understand the macro-structural and micro-level
In their study Transnational migration: a view from Colombia, Guarnizo and Diaz define
transnationalism as "a web of patterned and sustained migration-driven relations and activities that
transcend national borders and connect Colombians residing abroad with their localities of origin"
(Guarnizo and Diaz 1999). Their study is a general accounting of economic, political and socio-
cultural ties that bind Colombians with their country of origin. Data for their study came from sixty
structured and unstructured interviews with informants including: returned, visiting and prospective
migrants; relatives, friends and neighbors of migrants in the United States; as well as, local
After a preliminary analysis of the data, they have determined that both the sending and
receiving contexts, in addition to the initial social capital of the migrant, play a significant role in
determining the transnational practices of migrants. These practices are diverse and distinct and are
representative of intra-group ties that are divided by class, ethnicity, and origin:
The migration experience results in the transnational identity that either facilitates or hinders
migrants’ access to business and other opportunities in both countries. Transnational
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migrants that we call ‘successful,’ experience a stronger cultural and legal sense of
transnational identity and less successful migrants. In fact, during our fieldwork, we
perceived that the former seemed more likely to be dual US-Colombian citizens and be less '
localized' than their less fortunate counterparts... Conversely, we perceived that those of
humbler origins, the fluidity of their identity oscillated between the local (caleno, paisa), the
national (Columbian), and transnational (dual US – Colombian citizen at most). Apparently,
the better-off migrants tend to acquire, as it were, a ‘global,’ less localized sense of identity,
whereas the majority seemed to have a more localized, ‘translocal’ sense of identity
(Guarnizo and Diaz 1999).
Guarnizo and Diaz also note that migrants’ transnational activities depend not only on social capital,
but also on the context of reception. They observe differences in the degree and intensity of
Guarnizo and Diaz detailed transnational practices that illustrate economic, political and
socio-cultural ties. They listed among economic transnational practices the high level of monetary
remittances from migrants in the United States, the lucrative network of the transnational drug
trade, and the practices of transnational entrepreneurs. They note that the most successful
transnational entrepreneurs were university educated, spoke English well, were lights skinned, and
from upper-middle and middle-class families, illustrating the importance of social and human capital.
Among the transnational political practices they listed were political rallies in the United States for
Columbian candidates, recent changes in Columbian law giving migrants abroad the right to vote
and even run in elections in Columbia, and even a push for a ‘special district’ in the United States
with representatives to the Senate. In fact, in 1998 Guarnizo and Diaz point out that at least five
candidates, who were residents in the United States, ran for seats within the Colombians Senate with
one dual citizen winning a spot. Finally, they highlight socio-cultural ties such as the frequent visits
by folklore dance groups, professional and amateur soccer teams, popular singers, orchestras, to the
United States. They note that maintenance of cultural ties also occurs from the two-way flow of
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visiting relatives and friends during Columbia holidays, the small local radio and TV stations in
the United States owned by Columbia networks and the distribution of Colombian newspapers and
In the article From Hermano Lejano to Hermano Mayor: the dialectics of Salvadoran transnationalism,
Landolt, Autler and Baires maintain that the nature of exit and the unsympathetic reception in the
United States of Salvadoran refugees helped to determine the “ propensity, complexity and stability”
of Salvadoran transnationalism (Landolt et al. 1999). In the case of El Salvador, they explain, circular
labor migration to neighboring countries has existed for more than a century. But, it is the
circumstances of the departure of almost twenty percent of the population during the civil war of
the 1980s and early 1990s that has given migrants "a deep sense of social obligation towards their
places of origin" (Landolt et al. 1999, see also Menjivar 2000). These refugees came to the United
States with the mentality of one day returning to their home country. Additionally, the xenophobic
social climate of the United States and ensuing legal and political battle with the government created
The uncertainties of war and a negative reception in the US conspire to push migrants to
maintain ties with their place of origin at a time when the dynamics of the world capitalist
system make the maintenance of transnational relations feasible and thus transnational
households surprisingly functional (Landolt et al. 1999).
In their study, Landolt et al. detail the importance of remittances and other economic ties to
the home country. They devise a typology of transnational economic enterprises for use in the
analysis of Salvadoran transnationalism. This typology distinguishes between the formal and
informal and micro, small and medium-sized transnational entrepreneurial practices. They
categorize these practices as circuit enterprises, cultural enterprises, ethnic enterprises, returned
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migrant micro-enterprises, and transnational expansion enterprises. Circuit enterprises are
defined as both formal and informal couriers who circulate between the United States and El
Salvador carrying letters, cash, goods, and information. The informal viajeros rely on social networks
and informal agreements with their customers, while more formal organizations such as ‘Gigante
Express’ are primarily known as remittance agencies and shipping services.3 Cultural enterprises on
the other hand promote national identity among Salvadorans by providing content and information
from the home country. "Cultural enterprises include both ventures the producer distributes
Salvadoran mass media such as newspapers, radio and TV programming, and businesses that
producer distributes Salvadoran beverages and comestibles" (Landolt et al. 1999). While providing
cultural content, many of the mass media venues also provide a stage for political factions with
interests in migrants abroad. Ethnic enterprises include primarily small businesses that act as
middlemen in ethnic neighborhoods within the United States. This classification includes
convenience stores, restaurants, small retail shops, mechanics and street vendors. These businesses
rely on a supply of imports from El Salvador to remain economically viable. Returned migrant
micro-enterprises on the other hand are businesses located in El Salvador that offer goods in
services and are dependent on real economic and human capital acquired abroad. However, as
Landolt et al. point out, of include given the incapacity to stimulate capital, the so-called returned
migrant entrepreneurs migration cycle is really broken, challenging the conceptual distinction
between permanent, returned and cyclical migration" (Landolt et al. 1999). The final category within
the typology is that of transnational expansion enterprises. These include new and established
Salvadoran companies with transnational marketing and production of goods. These companies are
2
Note that all of these enterprises would fall under the category of transnational circuits in Faist’s typology.
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able to take advantage of immigrant settlements in the United States because of their strong
cultural and social bonds El Salvador. The practice of what the authors call "targeted globalization"
In the case of Salvadorans transnationalism, however, the authors discuss not only an
erosion of social boundaries brought about by increase contact between two cultures, such as with
other transnational fields, but also a dialectical process between displaced migrants and social elite.
Landolt et al. examine how the economic enterprises lead to subsequent political undertakings of
transnational entrepreneurs who challenge the established élites and create a discourse that further
Salvadoran migrants' transnational practices quickly extended beyond the bounds of the
household. As transnational economic enterprises and political projects blossomed, they
elicited more focused and strategic responses from institutions and power holders in El
Salvador. In effect, the case of Salvadoran transnationalism suggests that transnational
engagements of grassroots and élites has cumulative transformatory effects because each
exchange and interaction appears to sharpen the transnational acumen for dialogue,
competition, collaboration, and co-optation of all the players (Landolt et al. 1999).
In his article, Guatemalan Mayan migration to Los Angeles: constructing transnational linkages in the
context of the settlement process, Eric Popkin explains how the relative ease and affordability of personal
travel today is not a universal privilege for all migrant groups, especially as the United States
attempts to limit the number of migrants entering the country. He recognizes the recent more
prohibitive legal climate for migrants and rising cost of illegal migration and suggests that there is a
need, "to explore further the relationship between settlement and transnationalism and determine
how migrants maintain transnational connections in contexts in which their physical mobility is
3
See also Itzigsohn et al. Mapping Dominican transnationalism: narrow and broad transnational practices (1999)
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In the case of Kanjobal Mayan migrants in Los Angeles, linkages are maintained through
the Mayan Catholic Church4, traditional Guatemalan musical groups, an all-Mayan soccer league, as
well as transnational governmental organizations such as the Guatemalan Unity Information Agency
(Popkin 1999). Popkin's study implies that there is little need, once the migrant community has
reached a critical mass, for physical movement of migrants between home community and host
countries as well as the impact of circular migrants on the development of a transnational identity in
As the Kanjobal migrants increasingly settle in Los Angeles, they cope with extensive
discrimination by linking with the growing Pan-Mayan movement and by maintaining
connections with their familial households and among. This process generates a response by
actors affiliated with the Guatemalan state and church and outcome consistent with
Salvadoran case examined by Landolt and associates [1999]. Engaging in dialogue with the
consult and AFG [Guatemalan Unity Information Agency] to an interesting extensively with
the church in Santa Eulalia [Guatemala], though Kanjobal migrant organizations have more
access to Guatemalan state and home country institutions in individual members enjoyed
prior to migration. This finding suggests that limits to physical mobility of migrants due to
the receiving state immigration policies do not necessarily preclude the establishment of
migrant linkages with home country (Popkin 1999).
This reaction to the general discrimination against recent migrants in Los Angeles and a
distancing from other Latino groups is what has been previously mentioned as ‘reactive ethnicity.’
Popkin finds in his interviews and investigation of the Kanjobal population in L.A. a growing belief
that social pressures threaten their identity and existence. As limited Spanish speakers, they are
uncomfortable among other Latinos, but are often depicted by majority culture as being “plagued by
crime, gang activity and persistent poverty” that affect other Hispanic groups in California (Popkin
culture, language, and social causes of Kanjobal Mayans and to strengthen ties to the home
community.
In another study, Transnational migrant communities and Mexican migration to the US, Roberts,
Frank and Lozano-Ascencio explain that macro-structural changes in patterns of migration systems,
as well as the individual characteristics of today's migrants, have created a new dynamic in
transnational fields. After giving a historic account of Mexican - US migration sense the early 1900s,
the authors determine that there are three general patterns of migration flows to the United States: a
temporary migratory system, permanent settlement patterns, and a growing transnational system.5
They do, however, explain that these three systems are interconnected:
The three systems and migration operate simultaneously to shape Mexico-US migration and
are by no means mutually exclusive. They are likely to be associated with differences in
migrant characteristics... The differences in human and social capital result in disparate rates
of access to opportunities in the sending and receiving labor markets, which is reflected in
different patterns of migration, such as those embodied in temporary, permanent, or
transnational migration systems (Roberts et al. 1999).
The temporary migration system, also known as circular labor migration, is based on the
structural economic differences of labor markets in the two countries. Characteristic of earlier
migration flows from specific sending regions of Central Western Mexico to seasonal agricultural
jobs in the United States, the temporary migration system depends on wage differentials and lack of
employment opportunity in the home community. As legislative changes during the 1980s and '90s
(1986 Immigration Reform Act and 1996 Welfare Reform and Immigration Acts), legalized formerly
undocumented, temporary labor migrants they lead to settlement and increased immigration as a
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Permanent migration systems also rely on the lack of opportunities in the home country
and are a cumulative result (see "cumulative causation" in Massey 1987) of previous migration flows.
Roberts et al. explain, "scarcity of jobs and declines in real income for the rural population and for
the poorest 40 percent of the urban population make it increasingly difficult to find a stable
subsistence base in either countryside or city" (Roberts et al. 1999). Additionally, they make clear
that recent increases in border enforcement have also resulted in less circulation, and more
permanent settlement as undocumented migrants find the relative risks and costs associated with
Transnational migratory systems are explained as the result of the "return pull of sending
communities and retaining power of receiving communities" (Roberts et al. 1999). The
authors explain that this system is dependent on social and economic ties between
individuals in the place of origin and destination. Differences exist in the form and degree of
transnational activities based on characteristics of the individual migrants such as social and
human capital, gender, and the nature of sending receiving communities. Yet, they attribute
the growth of these activities to "the ease of communication between Mexico in the US, with
a large and relatively permeable land border, good road, rail and air connections, and
relatively inexpensive and extensive telecommunication links" (Roberts et al. 1999).
After demonstrating the existence of these three systems, which operate simultaneously in
today’s Mexico - US migration flows, they turn their attention to a comparison of urban migrants
from Mexico City and rural migrants from San Gregorio to Austin, Texas. Here they emphasize the
importance of Austin and other cities in the border area as a binational zone of increasing economic
and social ties, which has amplified the significance of transnationalism. Paraphrasing other studies
(Bustamante 1989; Villa 1994; Veléz-Ibánez 1996; Spencer and Roberts 1998), they explain that:
Accounts make clear that the inhabitants on either side of the border are highly
interconnected socially and economically, operate internationally, and retain a strong sense
of nationality and a difference from the other side. For many inhabitants of these border
5
While temporary and permanent migration systems correspond, in part, to Faist’s transnational kinship groups and
circuits, the transnational migration systems of Roberts et al. fits with Faist’s transnational communities.
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communities, their activities and identities are based on a single community, that of the
border (Roberts et al. 1999).
Consistent with the other studies listed here, they find both small and large-scale
rule migrants and centered on church activities), and growing transnational political involvement.
They find among rural migrants a stronger sense of identity and community:
San Gregorians travel back to Mexico frequently, particularly at the end of the year to
participate in the Feria Anual. This persistent contact with their town of origin is based on
factors such as family commitments, continuing interest in property there, and the possibility
of eventual return. There economic and social marginality in Austin reinforces the group
identity... The strong linkages among people in San Gregorio's community contrast with the
week ties among Mexico City migrants. People from San Gregorio are a homogeneous
group in terms of their levels education and types of jobs in Mexico and in the United States.
In contrast, migration for Mexico City is heterogeneous in terms of social class, education
and labor skills, and internal and international migration experience (Roberts et al. 1999).
is the migrant's orientation toward the homeland and propensity for eventual return. In a 1997
report for the California Public Policy Institute, Belinda Reyes analyzed data provided by the
Mexican Migration Project (MMP)6, which tracked legal and illegal immigrants from Western Mexico
and found that almost 70 percent of all immigrants in the sample returned within 10 years (Reyes
1997). Though intention doesn’t always becomes a reality due to distance, political difficulties in the
homeland and simply becoming “established” in the host community (Moltmann 1980; Massey
1987; Schniedewind 1993; Yang 1999), homeland orientation does give the researcher a clue as to
the socio-psychological reasons for the development of an identity that is distinct from the receiving
context and manifests outwardly many of the cultural and social practices of the homeland. Between
6
The same data set used for the following analysis with focus made on circulation and settlement.
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departure and eventual (intended) return, immigrants to the United States are faced with the
Transnational ties have a significant impact on the home community and the receiving
locale. The economic ties to the homeland through remittances and savings of labor migrants in the
United States have provided capital to bolster the economies of farming villages, allowed migrant
families to invest in land or businesses, and afforded relatives the opportunity to join family
members in the United States (Massey 1987; Massey et al. 1994; Guarnizo and Diaz 1999; Landolt et
al. 1999; Portes 1999). The economic and political power of the transnational populations in the
United States has had significant influence on the homeland at the state level as well (Guarnizo and
Diaz 1999). In an effort to maintain the strength of ties to the homeland, on March 20, 1998 Mexico
granted dual citizenship to its expatriate community, thus allowing them the rights of owning
property, traveling back and forth between Mexico and the United States, and voting in national
election while acquiring US citizenship (see Roberts et al. 1999 for further implications). Similarly,
the Philippines have encouraged emigrants to maintain social and economic ties with the home
country, and have come to depend on the earnings of its expatriate community (McCarthy 1994). In
yet another case, Taiwan has actively courted well-trained engineers, doctors, scientists and other
professionals to either return or to maintain transnational ties with the home country by means of
7
Return rates are actually quite low for most sending countries. As many studies have shown, other factors such as
length of stay, economic opportunities in destination country and lack of opportunities in home country, marriage,
children, age, home ownership, etc. tend to influence the decision to return or settle more.
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international professional organizations (Swinbanks 1995). These examples illustrate the
Similarly, transnational communities have provided migrants and their children born in the
United States a sense of identity, collective solidarity, and socio-economic mobility while promoting
integration into the society of the United States (Landolt et al.1999; Portes 1999). As Roberts et al.
explain:
Minimally, a transnational field provides immigrants with opportunities and perspectives that
are alternatives to committing themselves exclusively either to the new society or to the old.
Even those relatively settled in United States retain active ties with their communities and
margin to sending remittances back, returning for celebrations, and helping fellow-terms
people to migrate (Roberts et al. 1999).
As this review of recent studies of transnational fields makes clear, several issues must be
and political activities and practices have been established as well as the growing influences of
transnational communities abroad on political and social institutions in the homeland. In the study
by Landolt et al., as well as in the piece by Eric Popkin, the progression of a dialogue between
grassroots associations and political and social elites has been observed in the dialectical process of
the formation of transnational identities. In these articles, the nature of the migrant’s exit from the
homeland is also seen as helping to determine his or her orientation toward and solidarity with those
left in the homeland. Guarnizo and Diaz, among others, have demonstrated that the success of
transnational migrants in the receiving context is determined, in part, by social and human capital as
well as the economic and political climate of sending and receiving countries. The context of
reception has also been important in shaping the identity of transnational migrants as seen in
Popkin’s explanation of reactive ethnicity. Roberts et al. have shown that the urban/rural nature of
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the sending community may be influential in determining the strength of ties among migrants and
to their homeland. Roberts et al. also establish the distinctive nature of the border area as a
geographic region of strong economic and social transborder ties. Finally, transnationalism has been
shown to have implications and influences in both the emigration and immigration countries as it
forces governments to deal with the concept of legal and de facto dual-citizenship, political and
economic influence of transnationals and the two-way traffic of human talent and economic capital.
Inherent in transnational social fields is a detachment from the spatially bound ties of
nationalism and an increased importance of the maintenance of social, economic and symbolic ties
across national boundaries. This study proposes a twofold approach for analyzing these ties. First,
by means of secondary data analysis using conventional statistical regression techniques, this study
looks at reported social and economic ties of Mexican migrants to both sending and receiving
contexts. The analyses establish patterns of settlement, circulation and return in Mexican migration
flows and identifies several of the key variables that influence decisions of migrants in following one
of these migration strategies. After establishing these patterns and influences, and confirming the
existence of a dynamic community with constant trans-border movement the study turns to an
analysis of transnational social fields observed in the Phoenix area. Through a series of interviews
with documented and undocumented Mexican migrants, there emerges an image of transnational
kinship groups, transnational labor circuits, and formation of a transnational community in which
migrants have similar social and economic ties, as well as shared symbolic ties to the homeland and
host communities. These symbolic ties, which are manifested in cultural practices, language use and
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the perception of a common identity, bind migrants to communities on both sides of the border
and to each other as the form a hybrid culture with elements from the United States and Mexico.
Research Hypotheses
Table 1 demonstrates the principal hypotheses that are used in forming the models explored
in the analyses of settlement, circulation and return in part two. First, migrants with weak social and
economic ties to Mexico and strong social and economic ties in the United States are expected to
have longer duration of stay and highest probability of acquiring long-term legal status (H1).
According to the second proposition, migrants with both strong or medium social and economic
ties to Mexico and strong or medium social and economic ties to the United States will have greater
rates of circulation between countries (H2). Finally, return is gauged as the inverse of hypothesis 1:
Migrants with strong social and economic ties to Mexico and weak social and economic ties to the
Mexico US Outcome
Low High Settlement
High/Mid. High/Mid. Circulation
High Low Return
United States will have shorter duration of stay and lowest probability of acquiring long-term legal
status (H3). By comparing the relative strength of real social and economic ties to Mexico with the
social and economic relations that bind the individual to the United States, it may be shown which
migrants are most likely to assimilate to the dominate culture, seek isolated enclaves (or return
Once the context of Mexican - US migrant flows has been explored, the study turns, in part
three, to a qualitative analysis of transnational fields in the Phoenix area. These social fields are
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observed in interviews with individual cases of migrants who demonstrate varying degrees of
social, economic and, most importantly, symbolic ties with Mexico and the United States. Table 2
demonstrates the hypothesis that migrants with relatively weak symbolic ties to Mexico and strong
symbolic ties in the United States will have higher propensity for acculturation and social integration
(H4), while migrants with strong symbolic ties to Mexico and weak symbolic ties to the United States
will have more formulated plans of return and least integration into majority culture (H5).
Correspondingly, migrants with both strong/medium symbolic ties to Mexico and strong/
Mexico US Outcome
Low High Acculturation
High Low Isolation
High/Mid. High/Mid. Transnationalism
medium symbolic ties to the United States will have dual modes of social interaction (dependent on
setting), higher rates of bilingualism, social integration into both dominant culture and enclave (or
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PART TWO – SETTLEMENT, CIRCULATION AND RETURN: AN ANALYSIS OF
Transnational ties have a significant impact on the home community and the receiving
locale. Economic ties such as remittances and entrepreneurial activities influence the dialectical
process between transnationals abroad and the emigration country. Moreover, as the economic and
political power of the transnational populations in the United States has increased in recent years, a
significant influence on the homeland and the on debate about the nature of citizenship, nationality
Contemporary studies hold that migrants are individual actors embedded within social
networks and the macro-structural context of international migration flows (Faist 2000a; Massey et
al 1998; Portes 1997). Their decisions to permanently or semi-permanently migrate (settle), circulate
between countries, and the potentiality for return migration are influenced by the strength of their
social and economic ties to their homelands as well as to the receiving contexts in which they now
live. In the article, entitled The study of transnationalism: pitfalls and promise of an emergent research field,
Portes et al., define the proper unit of analysis for researchers studying transnationalism as, "the
individual and his/her support networks." However, they also recognize the importance of larger
institutions (communities, economic enterprises, political parties, etc) as having an impact on the
construction of a transnational identity (Portes et al. 1999). Portes et al. determine that as a relatively
new study, transnational inquiry should focus on the individual level and observe how the aggregate
levels are constructed from the micro-level upward (Portes et al. 1999).
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26
For these reason, this analysis has made use of recent data on Mexican migration that
looks at individual migrants within the context of the family and social network. By observing the
strength of real social and economic transnational ties that bind individual Mexican migrants to their
homeland and to the United States, it may be determined which migrants have a higher propensity
for settlement, circulation, or return. The varying degrees of social and economic commitment to
Mexico and the definite pragmatic links to the United States, such as relatively higher paying jobs,
better living conditions and the presence of family and friends, are found to be impacted by
intervening variables such as English ability, educational attainment, and documentation status.
Thus, these variables are considered also as this study attempts to better understand the factors that
influence the transnational migrant networks and the choice to either settle, circulate or return.
As one of the overall goals of this study is to establish the relative importance of various
social ties as factors which influence the development of transnational social spaces as they occur
somewhere between settlement and potential return, it is vital to establish their importance first in
the broader migration flows between Mexico and the United States. By determining which ties are of
most relative importance in determining the migration outcomes, analysis of subsequent qualitative
data may focus on those ties which are shown to be most significant and, if found to be of
importance in the qualitative study, reinforce the explanatory power of both approaches.
Data analyzed in this portion of the study came from the Mexican Migration Project (MMP).
The MMP, created in 1982, is an ongoing bi-national research project jointly directed by Jorge
Durand of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico and Douglas S. Massey of the University of
Pennsylvania. To date, data has been collected from 52 representative sending communities in
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27
western Mexico [Figure 1] and key receiving locations in United States. During its 18-year history,
the MMP has randomly surveyed over 7,000 households in Mexico and an additional 500
each sending community. Surveys in Mexico are conducted in the December and January to
capitalize on migrants returning for the holidays. US surveys are completed the following summer
in the months of July and August (Mexican Migration Project 1999). Semi-structured interviews are
carried out to gather demographic information on family members in a given household and to
record migration experiences for each of the family members. Aggregate data on household
characteristics including properties, businesses, livestock, and land owned by the families are
collected in a database of household information (HOUSFILE). Life histories for all household
heads are collected during these interviews. Information on border crossing, social ties in US, and
other characteristics of the individual' s migration experience are used to compile a data file of
individuals with
27
28
Figure 1- Sending Communities in Western Mexico
migration experience (MIGFILE). Interviews with local informants are used as a means of validating
information provided in surveys and additional files on community, regional and national
characteristics for use in community level analyses are assembled in supplemental files (Mexican
Several problems with this dataset must be acknowledged. First, although it contains a
representative sample of select sending communities in western Mexico, the data from the MMP is
not representative of all Mexican migrants. Additionally, the principal data file used in this analysis
(MIGFILE) relies on information from household heads and therefore over-represents older
undocumented male (95.3%) labor migrants [Figure 2]. Moreover, the subset of US interviews is a
non-representative sample of migrants from western Mexico who are on average slightly younger
(mean age of 38.6 years) than those sampled in Mexico (mean age of 48.1 years). Additionally, this
snowball sample is biased toward those who have maintained contact with the sending community.
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29
As Belinda Reyes points out in her secondary analysis using this dataset, "the snowball sampling
techniques used to gather information about immigrants in the United States may systematically
under sample people with little connection to the origin location or people living in nontraditional
Initially, bivariate and descriptive statistics were generated to analyze the nature of the
sample and examine the correlations between independent and dependent variables. Subsequent
analysis, using multivariate linear and logistic regression techniques to control for the effects of age,
education, and documentation status, were performed on variables that define the economic
commitment of the migrants to family in Mexico as well as economic and social ties to the receiving
context. Dependent variables used as indicators of possible outcomes included number of trips as a
means of determining circulation and acquisition of legal status and duration of stay to determine
settlement.
As previously detailed in part one [Table 1] the principal hypotheses used in forming the
H 1: Weak social and economic ties to Mexico and strong social and economic ties in the
United States will result in longer duration of stay and highest probability of acquiring long-
H 2: Migrants with both strong or medium social and economic ties to Mexico and strong or
medium social and economic ties to the United States will have greater rates of circulation
between countries.
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30
H 3: Migrants with strong social and economic ties to Mexico and weak social and
economic ties to the United States will have shorter duration of stay and lowest probability
Variables for this analysis were selected after careful consideration of the various theories of
international migration and a descriptive analysis of variables available in the MMP data files. Central
to the selection were the Network Theory of Migration (Massey et al 1987, 1993, 1994, 1998) and
The New Economics of Migration (Stark and Bloom 1985; Stark 1988, 1989). Both of these theories
recognize the micro and macro influences on the individual migrant’s decision to move and situate
the individual within a broader web of family, community and even national ties. Both theories also
recognize (to varying degrees) the agency of the individual in the decision making process, but
emphasize the influence of meso-level factors that direct the individual actor to migrate
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31
Figure 3 - Age at Time of First Trip to the U.S.
within the family, relative socio-economic status and access to social and real capital that facilitate
the move. As previously mentioned, this dataset is comprised mostly of male head of households.
For this reason, the sex of the migrant and role in the household were omitted as control variables.
Age of the migrant also becomes problematic as many migrants have returned to settle in Mexico
and are no longer involved in the migration cycle. Consequently, controls for age at time of
interview [Figure 2] and age at time of first migration experience [Figure 3], an influential variable
for determining acculturation, English ability and the development of diverse social ties are included
in this study.
analysis. Distinct levels of educational attainment were found to have conflicting effects on the
dependent variables. Thus, to view these effects more clearly, the variable for number of years of
education (EDYEARS) was recoded into five discrete levels of: no education; elementary education
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(one through six years); junior high (seven through nine years); high school (ten through twelve
years); and some college (any above thirteen years of education). The majority (62.2%) of
respondents in this data file had between one and six years of education (overall mean = 4.6 years).
Education was also seen to be negatively correlated with age (Pearson's R of -.406 p<.001). Those
migrants who, at the time of the interview, were under thirty-five years old had a mean education of
7.2 years, while those over thirty-five had 3.7 years of education on average. The following cross
Another important control variable included in the analysis was English ability, used as a
marker for acculturation (in the manner of Gordon 1964 as discussed in Clark 1998 and Alba and
Nee 1997). English ability (ENGLISH) was coded as: none (51.9%), understands some English
(16.%), understands English well (4.7%), speaks some English (17.7%), and speaks English well
(9.0%). Economic success in the host community, acquisition of legal status, and the degree to
which the migrant becomes involved in the broader community are all positively related to length of
stay, and are all influenced by the level of linguistic proficiency the migrant acquires. However,
causal order for English ability and duration of stay in the United States cannot be clearly established
as the
Education Age
0-18 18-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55-65 65+
None -- .9% 4.5% 11.2% 21.0% 27.6% 34.9% 100.0%
1-6 years .1% 4.3% 20.5% 26.1% 21.3% 15.8% 11.9% 100.0%
6-9 years .2% 17.9% 40.5% 24.3% 10.2% 4.4% 2.4% 100.0%
9-12 years -- 18.3% 44.5% 22.5% 9.6% 4.1% .9% 100.0%
13+ years -- 3.0% 50.2% 31.8% 9.5% 2.5% 3.0% 100.0%
% of Total .1% 5.9% 22.8% 23.6% 18.8% 15.2% 13.6% 100.0%
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33
dynamic process of learning a language occurs over time spent in the destination country.
For this reason, English ability is included in the full model, but omitted in a parallel
regression (Model 2 in the multivariate analyses to follow) so that the effects of this variable may be
observed. Additionally, English was found to be highly correlated with years of education (Pearson’s
R of .416 p<.001), a variable that clearly precedes in temporal order. 8 Thus, the argument may be
made that those with a higher educational attainment are better equipped with the human capital to
new language and negotiate the complex social/legal landscape of the destination country.
Documentation status on last or current trip (DOCUSL) is the final control variable.
Documentation clearly influences the length of stay in the United States. In the case of permanent
residence or citizenship, documentation could lengthen the time it is possible to spend in the United
States, while visas granted by the earlier Bracero program, limited the amount of time and even
number of trips that the migrant may make to the United States. Documentation status was thus
defined as: undocumented (56.5%), Bracero (10.7%), SAW (6.5%), tourist visa (6.1%), amnesty
interviewees in Mexico and the United States were most likely to be undocumented (60.1% and
38.7% respectively), there are higher rates of long-term documentation among migrants interviewed
in the US sample [Table 4]. Additionally, there is a problem of null cells in the US sample as those
migrants who were last documented under the Bracero program, which lasted from 1942 until 1964,
have all returned to Mexico or are presently in the United States under another status. Thought was
given to collapsing this group with the SAW program category, as both are short-term labor visas.
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34
However, as SAW granted legal status to previously undocumented workers in 1986, the
relationship between these legal categories and the outcome variables are found to be quite distinct.
In fact, whereas Bracero is negatively correlated with the duration of stay (Pearson’s R of -.199
The research hypothesis for this portion of the analysis is that the greater the real economic
and social ties to the host country, the higher the propensity to settle as shown in longer total
durations of stay and by acquisition of legal status. Conversely, strong real ties to the home
community may result in higher rates of circulation as revealed by the number of trips the migrant
has made between countries. Therefore, the variables selected that demonstrate these bonds to both
home and host countries are: sum of all family owned land, lots, buildings in Mexico; sum of family
owned vehicles in Mexico; sum of family owned businesses in Mexico; monthly remittance to
8
Interaction variables computed for English and Education and were found to be significant. However, high
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35
Mexico; migrant had US bank account; US monthly wage; monthly Rent in US; spouse of migrant
on trip to US; kids on trip; total of all relatives in US; number of friends from Mexico in US; migrant
Strong family ties in Mexico may indicate forces that pull the migrant home and also press
the migrant to go abroad so as to “maximize excepted [family] income, but also to minimize risks
and to loosen constraints associated with various kinds of market failures” (Stark 1991, as
paraphrased by Massey et al. 1998). Measurement of the strength of these family ties becomes
difficult with the dataset at hand.9 Thus, family owned property, vehicles and businesses along with
remittances from the United States must act as proxies for these attachments. The rationale is that
migrants with economic and social obligations in Mexico will remit more money and be more likely
to return migrate or circulate if they, or their family, own real property in the home community.10 At
the same time, the maintenance of this property, as well as the acquisition of new properties
“relative to other households,” may increase the total duration of stay in the country of destination
(Stark 1991, in Massey et al. 1998). Descriptive statistics for each of these variables are provided in
Table 5. In addition, the following bar chart [Figure 4] also provides some understanding of the
degree of monetary commitment the migrant makes to the homeland. With 72.1% of the sample
sending remittances (19% of whom remit more than half their monthly earnings), it can be seen as a
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36
Table 5 - Descriptive Statistics for Control Variables
Economic ties to the host community were measured by the establishment of a bank
account in the United States, average monthly wage in the United States, and the monthly rent while
living in the United States. Only 15.3% of the sample reported having established a US based bank
account. However, as the above crosstabulation [Table 6] shows, long-term legal migrants had
higher frequencies of establishing a bank account than short-term and undocumented migrants.
Monthly wages (computed from reported hourly wage on last/current trip times reported number of
hours worked per week times 4.33 weeks), and to a lesser extent monthly rent, have great variability.
While the mean monthly earnings were around $995, the range extended from $0 to $8184. This
broad range and large standard deviation ($985) were due in part to the possible imprecision in the
wages provided by the retrospective data as respondents, whose last trip to the United States may
have been decades in the past, provided figures that may have been inflated or inaccurate.11
11
Belinda Reyes points out, “ Retrospective data, unlike longitudinal data, may be more accurate at representing
recent events than past events. For example, people may be very precise at estimating their current wages, but may
inflate or deflate the wages they earned 20 years ago. This will lead to a downward bias in the estimates” (Reyes
1997).
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37
Figure 4 - Remittance as a Percentage of Income
40
35
36
30
25 28
20
15 17
10 12
5 7
0
No Remit Less than 25% 25 to 50% 50 to 75% More than 75%
Finally, US based social ties and the diversity of those ties were measured using variables
from the migrant’s last trip to the United States including: spouse (if married) accompanied the
migrant, children accompanied the migrant, the sum of all family in the United States 12, the number
of friends from Mexico in the United States, membership in formal social groups in the United
States, and association with various other ethnic groups as a measure of diversity of ties. Most of
these variables were fairly straightforward in their coding and do not need further explanation. Some
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38
20.4% of migrants were accompanied by their spouses
27.5% had one or more children in the United States
24.4% had no family members while 65.6% had one to ten family members in the
United States
51.5% did not have friends from Mexico, 42.2% had one to twenty friends.
11.3% belonged to formal social groups, clubs, or organizations.
13.8% had Chicano, Black, Anglo and other (non-Mexican) Latino friends.
12
To avoid giving too much weight to large extended families and more importance to closer family ties, sum of
family ties was computed using the mean of all uncles, aunts, cousins, and in-laws in the US, then added them to the
number of siblings, parents, and grandparents in the US.
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Table 7 - OLS Regression Predicting Duration of Stay
Background Measures:
†Interview takes place in US (N= 677) 61.447 *** 35.911 *** 29.042 ***
Age at time of interview centered on the mean 2.548 *** 2.432 *** 2.499 ***
Age of first trip to US centered on the mean -2.365 *** -2.430 *** -2.270 ***
SAW Agricultural workers program 25.653 *** 22.286 *** 18.208 ***
Mexico Ties:
Sum of all family owned land, lots, buildings in Mexico --- 2.216 1.938
US Ties:
Migrant had US bank account --- 30.426 *** 25.899 ***
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Regression Analysis – Duration of Stay
Table 7 shows ordinary least squares regression explaining the variance in the population for
the variable - duration of stay (USEXP), the total number of months of all trips combined. Age at
time of interview and age of first trip have been centered on the mean to allow for a more
interpretable constant. As previously indicated categorical variables have been recoded into dummy
variables to clarify the effects of each level of English ability, education, and documentation status as
well as having bank account, spouse on trip, or children on trip. The reference group, is
undocumented migrants, with no education, and no English ability, had no bank account in the
United States, who were interviewed in Mexico and either have no spouse or children or whose
spouse and children stayed in Mexico. In other words, those with the fewest ties to the United States
Model 1 establishes a baseline by including only the control variables for place of interview,
age at time of interview, age at first trip to the United States, English ability, educational attainment,
and documentation status. This model alone is quite strong in explaining the variance in the
population (R2=.596 p<.001) and, with the exception of only a few discrete categories (junior high
education and tourist status on last trip), all variables are highly significant.
Those who were interviewed in the United States are a distinct group who has spent much
longer in the receiving context. As demonstrated earlier in the descriptive statistics, these migrants
are generally younger, better educated, and yet, by nature of the sampling procedure, more likely to
have maintained contact with the sending community. While migrants older than the mean age (46.5
years) at time of interview, are more likely to have stayed longer in the United States, this may be the
result of simply having had the opportunity to spend more years abroad. For this reason the variable
defining age at first trip to US was introduced to offset the effects of age on duration of stay.
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Migrants who came later than 25.5 years (mean age of first trip), stayed for shorter total durations,
English ability has a significant and powerful effect (second only to documentation status)
on the total number of months the migrant stays in the United States. As the literature suggests, one
of the first steps to economic assimilation and successful transnational entrepreneurial activity is the
ability to speak English. However, as previously mentioned causal order is difficult to establish in
this relationship. Thus, for purposes of comparison, English ability has been omitted in Model 2.
Tightening restrictions on employers and hostile social environment toward undocumented workers,
including some legal migrants toward their undocumented co-nationals, has provided greater
rewards for those with legal status and thus longer stays in the United States. It must be noted that
those migrants who, on their last trip to the United States were on the Bracero program were found
to stay far less total time in United States. Though documented, the legal restriction of their visa
limited the amount of time spent here. Also of importance is the fact that many Bracero workers
later returned to the United States under other documentation status or as undocumented migrants
so those respondents who indicated Bracero status on their last trip are then most likely to be older
men no longer participating in the migration system. Finally, there is a progression from special
agricultural worker status (SAW) to amnesty, to permanent resident and finally to citizenship in
terms of length of stay and apparent settlement. However, as this dataset is built from a longitudinal
study, rather than a cross-sectional sample at a given time, the documentation status of individual
migrants who were interviewed in later years may not be exactly comparable to migrants from earlier
waves. The effect of documentation status appears to be fairly constant in all three models and are,
with the exception of tourist status, highly significant in determining length of stay.
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2
Model 2 is also very robust (R =.635 p<.001) and adds the effects of economic ties to
Mexico, economic ties to the United States and finally social ties to the United States, but removes
the effects of English ability. Variables describing the economic commitment of the migrant to
Mexico demonstrate the fact that, with the exception of family owned businesses, strong economic
ties compel the migrant to stay for longer periods in the United States. This finding seems to fit the
theory that the family unit will offset market risks by sending members abroad to take advantage of
wage differentials and greater availability of employment. Most significant is the association between
monthly remittances and duration of stay: for every hundred dollars the migrant sends home, his
stay is lengthened by more than a month, perhaps to offset this cost. Business ownership, on the
other hand, has a negative relationship to length of stay in the United States. This may be due in part
to the need for family laborers to stay in Mexico to work and also to a lesser demand for remittances
from abroad to sustain the family. Real property, such as vehicles, land, houses, etc. seem to have
US economic ties are added in the following block. Most prominent is the relative
importance of having a bank account in the United States. This variable demonstrates the symbolic
commitment toward settlement that the migrant has made by negotiating the legal and social barriers
to getting the account (i.e. genuine or counterfeit photo identification, social security number, etc.).
As a result of this economic commitment, the total length of stay is predicted to increase by more
than two years. Though not as powerful as having a bank account, the monthly rent the migrant
pays also symbolizes a commitment to the destination. A migrant whose only goal is to work for a
few months, save money, and return will spend less on the physical comforts of having a nicer place
to live. This variable, however, may be influenced heavily by the city in the United States where the
migrant is residing and if his children and spouse have come to the United States as well. Of relative
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importance too is the effect of monthly wage on the duration of stay. All else being equal, it is
predicted that the migrant stay an additional month for every one hundred dollars earned monthly.
While Mexican economic ties were found to have only a marginal overall effect in Model 2 (R2
change for block =.014, p<.001), the effects of US economic ties were especially influential (R2
Though more important than Mexican economic ties in explaining the variance in the
population, US social ties are not as powerful a predictor as US economic ties (Model 2 R2 change
for block =.019, p<.001). Of most importance are the conditions in which the spouse and children
accompany the migrant to the United States. Having spouse and children along lengthen the
predicted stay by an estimated 2 years. Together spouse and children by far outweigh the effects of
other social ties of extended family, friends, formal social ties and diversity of ties. Notably though is
that for every family member in the United States the migrant is predicted to stay an additional
month and a half. This may have a significant cumulative effect if the migrant has many relatives
here and demonstrates the importance of family ties in determining settlement. Interestingly, the
effect of having friends from the homeland is slightly negatively related to the length of stay. This
may be evidence of the existence of transnational circuits, which are further explored in part three.
Lastly, model 3 reintroduces the effects of English ability (R2=.650 p<.001). This model
explains some of the overlap of place of interview, educational attainment and social ties with
English ability. In model 2, when economic and social ties were considered, the effects of the place
of interview were observed to be far weaker than in model 1. Controlling for language ability in
model 3 further reduces these effects. Educational attainment, on the other hand, has the opposite
effect. When controlling for English ability, the benefit of having a high degree of education
decreases the duration of stay especially when unaccompanied by high English ability. Yet,
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44
regardless of language ability the reward for educational attainment is not present in the United
States for the Mexican migrant, as human capital is not easily transferred.
The influence of US economic and social ties were also somewhat mitigated by the addition
of English ability. Of particular interest is the slight shift (-4.5 months) in the effect that having a US
bank account has on duration of stay, indicating that English ability accounts for some of the power
of this variable. Similarly, diversity of non-familial ties, as measured by associations with other non-
Mexican ethnic groups, is diminished by inclusion of English ability. Thus, strength of social and
economic ties become slightly less important, though still significant, in determining length of stay as
The results show that while economic ties to the homeland lengthen the period of time
abroad, these effects are overshadowed by economic and social ties to the receiving context. Most
important is the symbolic commitment toward settlement by having opened a bank account and
having been accompanied by spouse or children to the United States. These results tend to support
the hypothesis that strong ties to the United States lengthen the time spent abroad and, perhaps,
indicate a propensity to settle. On the other hand, variables that demonstrate social ties to Mexico
were not available in this dataset. As a result, hypothesis three, which estimates shorter duration in
the United States, is not clearly proven or disproved. Better measures of symbolic ties to home and
host communities, would be helpful in gauging this commitment toward settlement or eventual
return as the variables analyzed herein can only hint at the emotional and psychological bonds of the
migrant.
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45
Table 8 - OLS Regression Predicting Number of Trips
Background Measures:
Interview takes place in US -2.812 *** -2.884 *** -3.111 ***
Age at time of interview centered on the mean .119 *** .113 *** .118 ***
Age of first trip to US centered on the mean -.153 *** -.153 *** -.149 ***
SAW Agricultural workers program 5.697 *** 5.475 *** 5.203 ***
Mexico Ties:
Sum of all family owned land, lots, buildings in Mexico --- .181 .195 *
US Ties:
Migrant had US bank account --- -.856 ** -.803 **
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46
Regression Analysis – Circulation
Analysis of circulation between Mexico and US [Table 8] utilizes the same ordinary least
squares regression models described above. The full model, though explaining 35.9% of the variance
in the population (p<.001), is not as strong as that of duration of stay (R2=.650 p<.001).
Nonetheless, patterns do emerge that tend to support the hypothesis that strong social and
economic ties to the homeland and to the host country produce more circulation between countries.
In all three models, there is a reduction in total number of circulations if the respondent was
interviewed in the United States (bringing estimated total circulations to zero, indicating that this is
most likely the first and only trip). Since these subjects are more recent arrivals, this may be a
reflection of the effects of strengthened border enforcement, which have increased the relative risks
of circulation. The current context may create longer stays and fewer circulations as the cost of
border crossing (emotional and psychological as well as financial) has increased disproportionately to
the ties that induce and deter circulation. As this dataset only includes interviews up to 1997, and is
attribute all of the effect of this variable to increased border enforcement. Future analysis of data for
1997 to present may confirm the causal relationship between decreased circulation, lengthened stay,
Age, although statistically significant, has only a minor role in determining the number of
circulations. At ten years above the mean (or about 56.5 years), the migrant is only estimated to have
circulated once more than those at the mean age, when controlling for all other variables.
Conversely, as age of first trip increases, the number of circulations decreases at a rate similar to that
of age at time of interview. For example, if the age at first trip is ten years above the mean (35.5
years), the migrant is expected to have experienced 1.4 fewer trips, all else being equal.
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47
Interestingly, English ability (models 1 and 3) has a relatively constant effect on the
number of circulations except for those who are highly proficient in English. This indicates that
those with average English ability, relative to other migrants in the dataset, are more likely to
circulate than those with no English ability. Likewise, those with higher relative proficiencies are
better able to find permanent employment and are more likely to be citizens in the United States.
However, it can only be surmised that it is a very small group or that the number of circulations is so
There is a negative relationship between education and total number of trips. In all three
models, increased education results in fewer trips. Those with more than a high school education are
estimated to circulate once less than those with no education, all else being the equal. An
explanation may be the same as that with duration of stay: migrants with a higher than average
education will stay for shorter periods and then return migrate to Mexico where their education will
Documentation status, again, is the strongest variable in the regression. Unlike duration of
stay, those with special agricultural worker status, amnesty and permanent residence as having the
highest rates of circulation while those with citizen-ship are only marginally above undocumented.
This may be due, in part, to the fact that until the mid 1980s when SAW and Amnesty were granted,
many migrants found it easiest to maintain a home in Mexico and simply return during holidays or
(in the case of seasonal agricultural workers) during the winters, thus increasing their total number of
circulations. Permanent residents also may have been undocumented workers in the labor circulation
at one time or they might be those with stronger ties to Mexico who were included in the sample
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48
It appears that, in the current environment and with this particular dataset, social and
economic ties to Mexico and the United States have far less of an influence on circulation than the
control variables (overall R2 change from model 1 to model 3 = .023, p<.001). This may be due, to
some extent, to the variables used as measures of these ties, as well as the greater sway of the macro-
structural impediments to circulation mentioned before (border enforcement, relative cost and risk).
However, there is evidence that having family in the United States, especially children (Model 3 b =
1.322, p<.001), will influence circulation. Likewise, having made a stronger financial commitment to
the receiving context checks circulation (Model 3 US wage b = -.803, p<.001), whereas having a
greater family financial responsibility in Mexico encourages circulation (Model 3 monthly remit b =
.125, p<.01).
Although legal status, education, and place of interview have the greatest influence, social
and economic ties do play a role in determining number of circulations between countries. Data
reflecting more recent migration and including more migrants currently in the United States may
yield stronger evidence to support Hypothesis Two (strong ties to both home and receiving
countries produces greater circulation) or demonstrate the change in migration flows as a result of
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Table 9 - Logistic Regression of Acquisition of Long-term Legal Status
Model 1 Model 2
Background Measures:
Interview takes place in US .498 *** .259
Age at time of interview centered on the mean .014 *** .019 ***
Age of first trip to US centered on the mean -.046 *** -.041 ***
Mexico Ties:
Sum of all family owned land, lots, buildings in Mexico .097 .089
US Ties:
Migrant had US bank account .478 *** .349 *
df 20 24
* p .05; ** p .01; *** p .001 Unstandardized regression coefficients N=3014
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50
Regression Analysis – Acquisition of Long-term Legal Status
semi-permanently in the United States and supports hypothesis one (high US ties result in
circulation or settlement) as well as hypothesis three (high Mexican ties result in circulation or
return). This outcome variable was produced by collapsing citizen, permanent resident, amnesty and
special agricultural worker status (another designation of amnesty) into long-term legal status. At the
same time, undocumented, Bracero and tourist were consolidated into non long-term legal status.
Analysis was then made using binary logistic regression to estimate the probabilities of acquiring
Model 1 shows the effects of age, education, Mexican economic ties, US economic ties and
US social ties on the probability of acquiring LLS. This model predicts 78.7% of cases, representing
an improvement of 5.3% over the dependent variable marginal (an overall increase of 20% of the
maximum possible improvement). Model 2 adds the control of English ability, affecting the power
and influence of economic and social ties to the United States and Mexico. Model 2 is able to predict
79.4% of cases and represents a gain of 6.0% over the dependent variable marginal, or an additional
3% of the maximum possible. Thus, English ability adds to the predictive power of the overall
model.
Place of interview was significant in determining length of stay and circulation between the
United States and Mexico. In model 1, place of interview is highly significant (p<.001) and US based
interviews increase the odds that the respondent will have LLS by 1.65. This may also be expressed
as a 65% increase in the probability that the migrant interviewed in the United States is more likely
to have long-term legal status.13 However, when controls for English ability are introduced, this
13
Transformation of the log it coefficient to percentage change in odds calculated using: 100* (eb –1).
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variable is found to be statistically insignificant (model 2). As these variables are highly correlated,
Age follows the same pattern established in the previous ordinary least squares regressions.
Respondents who were older at the time of interview were more likely to have acquired LLS: an
increase of 1.9% for each year above the mean. Similarly, being older on the first trip decreases the
odds of attaining long-term legal status. For every year above the mean age at first migration, the
respondent is estimated to have a decrease in the probability of having established LLS by 4.1%.
English ability has the greatest correspondence to predicting the attainment of long-term
legal documentation. Simply understanding some English increases odds of LLS acquisition by
almost 146%. Likewise, being highly proficient in English increases those odds by 274%
demonstrating the importance of English ability in being able to negotiate the legal and social
Of the measures indicating social and economic ties, the most significant are having family
owned business in Mexico, having a US bank account, and being accompanied by children in the
United States A family owned business has the consequence of drawing the migrant back to the
homeland. Those migrants with family owned businesses are 20% less likely to acquire LLS. In
contrast, US economic ties symbolized by having a US bank account are seen to increase odds of
establishing long-term legal status: an increase in probability of 41.7%. Finally, having children in the
receiving context improves the outcome of having LLS by 133.4%, thus indicating the importance
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Conclusions
The results of descriptive, ordinary least squares and logistic regression analyses of this
dataset have supported the primary hypotheses that strong social and economic ties to the United
States will result in longer duration of stay and increased circulation. Findings are ambiguous as to
the effect of ties to the homeland as only proxies for economic ties were represented in the dataset.
Most significant were the variables that could be interpreted as representing the greatest symbolic
ties to home or destination: having established a US bank account (strong economic commitment to
the destination) and bringing children to the United States (strong social/familial commitment),
versus having a family owned business in Mexico (strong social/economic tie to homeland).
Identification of these variables and the concepts that they represent help to define the context in
which Mexican transnational communities exist. They also help to establish that there are multiple
trajectories that a migrant may take in the migration process. These trajectories are neither exclusive
nor entirely linear as they provide migrants different opportunities throughout their migration life
history. Further exploration of the strength of these ties and, more importantly, an analysis of
symbolic ties to the homeland among permanent and semi-permanent settlers will allow for an
explanation of the causal mechanism in the creation of transnational fields. Thus, this analysis has
provided a perspective on the nature of recent migration flows, establishing patterns of settlement,
circulation and return as they relate to homeland ties. This study is useful in establishing a viewpoint
for the following analysis and may yield an explanatory model for processes such as complete
assimilation, blending (i.e. transnationalism), and formation of separate enclaves within a framework
of cultural pluralism.
14
Note too that an additional family member in the US increases odds by 6.1%, and friends from Mexico increases
odds by 1.0%. Though individually small, these variables have a substantial cumulative effects.
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PART THREE – TRANSNATIONAL FIELDS: A STUDY OF SYMBOLIC TIES
Introduction
While the results of the Mexican Migration Project analyses suggest some support for the
importance of economic and social ties on Mexican migration patterns, in depth interviews
conducted for this study establish the direct role of these ties to Mexico on the development of a
transnational identity that encompasses cultural elements of both home country and the receiving
context. This study, then, focuses on the symbolic ties of documented and undocumented Mexican
migrants to the home community in Mexico and on the influence of these ties in the membership
and participation in transnational fields in the Phoenix area. This analysis utilizes the typology of
transnational kinship groups, transnational circuits, and transnational communities (Faist 2000b).
The individuals interviewed in this study act as members of several of these categories at once and
often to divide their loyalties between pragmatic economic concerns in the United States and a
This study builds on the previous analysis by examining social and economic relations with
sending and receiving countries, the importance of human and social capital, and the intentions of
migrants to settle, circulate and return migrate. Symbolic ties, defined as the more elusive emotive
bonds to a nation that may be observed in the daily cultural practices, use of cultural icons, language
preference, and self-reported observations of the respondents’ connections to the home country,
were added to the previous theoretical models and analyzed using qualitative analysis techniques
such as network analysis and coding of narrative data (Coffey and Atkinson 1996).
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As with the analysis in part two, real social and economic ties were explored. The survey
instrument covered questions on earnings and expenses, savings, and both familial and social ties to
Mexico. In addition to the strength of ties to the home community, as indicated by frequency of
contact (telephone calls, letters, visits) and remittances, this study observed symbolic cultural ties
such as:
Family ties in the United States; intended plans for settlement or return.
As explained in Part One, the research hypothesis guiding this qualitative analysis involve an
exploration of assimilation and acculturation, enclaves and isolated social groups, and finally
transnational social spaces. Migrants with relatively weak symbolic ties to Mexico and strong
symbolic ties in the United States will have higher propensity for acculturation and social integration
(H4). On the other hand, migrants with strong symbolic ties to Mexico and weak symbolic ties to
the United States will have more formulated plans of return and least integration into majority
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culture (H5). Finally, migrants with both strong/medium symbolic ties to Mexico and
strong/medium symbolic ties to the United States will exhibit evidence of occupying transnational
social spaces by having dual modes of social interaction (dependent on setting), higher rates of
bilingualism, and social integration into both dominant culture and enclave (or homeland) cultures
(H6).
Source of Data
from Mexico now living in the Greater Phoenix area were conducted during the summer of 2000.
The twenty-eight respondents for this analysis were found using non-random, “snowball” sampling
techniques (Biernacki and Waldorf 1981; Granovetter 1976; Massey 1987). Initially, approximately
20 flyers were posted in various community gathering places in an area of high concentrations of
Mexican migrants [Appendix A]. Shopping centers, laundry facilities, restaurants and apartment
complexes known to be used frequently by migrants were targeted for postings. From these flyers, a
core group of contacts or informants emerged. Following the interviews, respondents were asked to
provide two more contacts (first name and phone numbers), or as an alternative to pass along
contact information for the interviewer. Even though the majority of respondents were in a delicate
legal position (23 of the 28 respondents were undocumented), the reference of someone known
personally to them provided entrée in most cases.15 An additional group of five respondents came
from an informant who is a member of a neighborhood Catholic Church with a high Mexican
membership.
15
Only two direct referrals declined to be interviewed.
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Each interview, conducted entirely in Spanish, lasted for about one hour and explored
social, economic, and cultural ties to the home country. In addition, these interviews detailed the
migrants’ individual migration experiences from their home communities to the United States,
documented information regarding their human and social capital and observed the role of support
networks in the immigration process. A laptop computer utilizing SurveyGold software was used to
record responses to preliminary structured interview questions and to record notes during more
open-ended, subjective responses. Additionally, interviews were taped so that responses to probing
question on the nature of symbolic ties could later be transcribed and analyzed. To protect the
identity of the migrants, respondents were instructed to select a pseudonym to be used on the tapes,
databases, and in reports.16 Following the research proposal agreement with the Institutional Review
Board of Arizona State University [Appendix B], all notes with real names and any other materials
that could be used to identify the subjects were destroyed following interviews.
It must be noted that although snowball sampling techniques are quite useful for providing
respondents in highly sensitive social research, the results cannot be said to be representative, in this
case, of the population of all Mexican migrants. Furthermore, as the initial informants were a self-
selecting group, bias may be introduced from the outset toward individuals who are more socially
integrated, have higher levels of social and human capital, and are less fearful of negative legal
consequences of responding to advertising that solicited recent migrants regardless of legal status.
This sample does, however, provide an image of an interconnected network on both family and
community levels and may be used to illustrate findings of the quantitative research presented in
part two.
16
As two migrants selected the same name (Hector), one was arbitrarily reassigned the name Jorge.
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The most recent figures of the Current Population Survey (CPS) indicate that Hispanics of
Mexican origin (both native and foreign-born combined) account for 65.2% of the 31.7 million
Hispanics in the United States (Ramirez 2000). This figure represents almost 12% of the entire US
population and, as the Population Projections Program at the US Census Bureau estimates, the
Hispanic population is projected to grow to more than 43.6 million by 2010 assuming midlevels of
immigration (Population Projections Program 2000). According to the same 1999 CPS data, 56.1%
of Hispanics have a high school education or more (as compared to 87.7% of non-Hispanic Whites
and 84.7% of Asians)17, they are three times more likely to live below the poverty level than Whites,
and Hispanics participate in the labor force in equal proportions as non-Hispanic Whites.18 These
figures are indicative of the social context within the United States where economic and educational
assimilation is not occurring as rapidly for Hispanics as perhaps for other immigrant groups (Alba
and Nee 1997; Clark 1998). In fact, in the CPS report Educational Attainment in the United States, the
The educational attainment of young Hispanics (ages 25 to 29) was substantially lower,
however, than for other groups. Moreover, during the past decade, the young adult Hispanic
population showed no significant change at the high school level and no significant change
at the bachelor’s or more level (Newburger and Curry 2000).
Spatial assimilation of Hispanics also seems to be limited in the US context. As William Frey
points out, there is a demographic divide between cities in the United States that are magnets for
17
Only 49.7% of Hispanics of Mexican origin have completed high school or more.
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immigrants on the one hand and the destinations of domestic migrants on the other (Frey 1999).
Figures produced from the 1999 CPS show that the foreign-born are twice as likely to live in urban
areas, and are concentrated in the West (39.3% of all foreign-born) and South (26.5%). The top two
intended destinations for legal migrants in 1996, as reported by the immigration and Naturalization
Service, were: California, with 201,529 legal migrants of whom more than 25% settled in Los
Angeles; and New York, with 154,095 legal migrant, almost all of whom were within New York City
(INS 1997). More telling perhaps is that 40% of the estimated 5 million undocumented migrants in
the United States are concentrated in California (INS 1999) Frey has called the urban-rural, regional,
and racial/ethnic divisions the demographic “Balkanization of America” fueled by immigration from
Arizona historically has been a state with high numbers of Hispanics. While Arizona is only
the seventeenth most common destination of all legal migrants, it is the seventh most frequent
destination among undocumented migrants (INS 1997 and 1999). Approximately 22.1% of the
estimated 4,778,332 Arizona residents are Hispanic, compared to 11.2% nationally (US Census
Bureau 2000) and 1998 estimates place the Hispanic population of Maricopa County at
approximately 20%. In the Phoenix area, the spatial divide that Frey spoke of in is clearly evident in
a map of census tracts with percentage Hispanics [Figure 5]. Hispanics can be seen as concentrated
18
Though this averaged figure does not reflect clearly the gendered aspect of labor force participation: Hispanic men
participate at a rate 4.1% higher than non-Hispanic white men, while Hispanic women work outside of the home at a
rate 4.5% lower than non-Hispanic white women
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Figure 5 – Percent Hispanic in the Phoenix Area
The sampling technique yielded a group of 16 males and 12 females from 15 sending
communities throughout Mexico. Best represented were migrants from Mexico City (35.7%) and
Oaxaca (14.3%). The ages of migrants ranged from 17 to 61 with a mean of 31 years. Educational
attainment also was quite broad with respondents having from none to 18 years of education. Mean
education was 10.4 years and illustrates the selection bias introduced in the snowball sample, as well
as the youthfulness of this sample (85% were under 35 years old). This was the first trip to the
United States for 50% of the sample, while one respondent had made more than 40 trips (though
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this respondent was born in Ciudad Juarez). The mean was 4.1 trips, however when the one
border resident was omitted the mean number of circulations dropped to 2.4 trips. 82.1% (23
respondents) were undocumented, 14.3% (4) had permanent residence and only one had acquired
US citizenship. Respondents were identified as being members of the core network, the church
group network, or non-network individuals for purposes of analysis of social ties in the United
States.
Although similar in some demographic respects to the migrants interviewed by the Mexican
Migration Project, this survey interviewed both males and females in almost equal proportions. This
was due in part to the sampling technique (rather than using head-of-households, all Mexican
migrants were included) and to the desire to understand the nature of symbolic ties as they differed
by gender. This works, however, to the exclusion of single male labor migrants as they are less likely
to be integrated into the networks captured in the sample, more likely to circulate and less likely to
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The Migration Experience
Motivation for Migration and Plans for Settlement, Circulation and Return
The respondents expressed various reasons for coming to the United States, yet the
predominate trends fit into two general classifications: labor migration and family unity. These
categories are not mutually exclusive as many respondents expressed economic and familial
motivations for migrating. These classifications are, though, reflective of the gender of the
respondents. A majority of male migrants stressed economic factors when discussing reasons for
migrating, while most of the females came either as the spouse of the male labor migrant or in
Miguel, for example, has only been in the United States for eleven months. He is single,
twenty-two and from a small town in Guerrero State in Southern Mexico. Miguel has a high school
education and a certificate from a vocational school in heating and air-conditioning repair. Miguel
has perhaps among the clearest plans, which fit into Landolt’s classification of a return migrant
micro-enterprise (Landolt et al. 1999). He is saving approximately $400 a month, of his $950 income
at a junkyard where he works with his cousin disassembling automobiles, to complete his plans:
I have some friends who are working there [Virginia]. They have been my friends since I was
very little. They are living there… I think they are working in construction… They invited
me to come and I said okay. But, when I got here [Phoenix], my aunt said “No. It is too far.”
So, I stayed here with them and, well, here I am… I am saving to buy equipment to send to
Mexico. Since I’m a professional [heating and air conditioning repair] I want to build my
own shop. So, after a time I will return to work there in my own shop… I have the plan of
another three years. It is possible that it would be a little more or a little less depending…
In addition to his aunt and cousins living in Phoenix, his father and two uncles live in California near
Los Angeles. He says his father and his father’s brothers all came to the United States over six years
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ago to find work. His mother, four brothers and sisters, as well as the rest of his extended family,
Hector, on the other hand, is a thirty-one year old father of two who brought his wife and
children with him to the United States. He is from Mexico City, has a high school education, and has
been in Phoenix working at a car wash for the past two years. He came here following his brother
who migrated to the area in 1994. As he explains, he had to sever many symbolic and social ties in
I come from Mexico. Right? I had to leave my homeland, my city, and my parents. Right? I
had to leave them, because my economic situation there in Mexico was a little difficult and I
had to leave that place so that I could come here...Right. To leave all these things, in my case
to better my living condition and to be here with my wife and children.
Raquel is a good example of a migrant who came only to be with her family. She is a fifty-
two year old homemaker who has never worked in the United States. Though she now has
permanent residence status, she initially came without documentation. As she explains, the decision
to come here had only to do with reuniting with her oldest son and husband who were working in
For a mother, the first thing is her son. And for me, I wasn’t interested in anything. Nothing,
nothing, interested me [about coming here] because of the process that I had to go through.
And even as I was bringing a daughter, three daughters, because I was bringing the youngest.
But I wasn’t interested [didn’t care], because he [Son in US] came with papers, and he had
left us. But, I said, I think every day ...God, do you know, do you know, what pain I carry
now in my heart. And you will get us past [the border] God, because I want for you to help
us pass. And asking God and asking God, and it was something completely unknown to me.
Nothing, even if I had wanted to, could I have imagined. I never imagined anything. I can
tell you I never imagined things that were really beautiful… what I imagined was the worst.
Because he [son in US] had told me ‘you won’t be able to even go out in the street. And
where would you go’ because he didn’t want for me to carry money. [Recounting
conversation with son] ‘That’s how it will be. That’s how it will be.’ ‘Me with my son and
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that’s it.’ ‘Through the window is all you will see out. Do you still want to go?’ ‘Even so, I
still want to go. I want to go to you.’ Only the simple thing of seeing my son. Only this.
Guille, on the other hand, is a thirty-two year old housecleaner who completed college in
Mexico by periodically working in the United States to save funds. She also exemplifies this love of a
mother for her child. However, her motivation was to make it easier for her daughter to work in the
United States in some distant future and to provide some capital for a more comfortable life in
Mexico. Guille had no plan to stay in the United States, though she has now been here for almost
three years, and still plans to return to Mexico within the next year.
Well, I’ve always wanted the best for my family and in this case I said to myself if one
doesn’t have too many problems here [US]…if there is enough desire, one can rise very
quickly. Earning what one wants. I noticed [in her previous trip], that without papers it is
very difficult. Very difficult, but equally as possible. So, I said to my self, I want for my
children to be born here, so that they won’t have the same problems that I had, because if
one day they want to come here… I want for them to be raised in Mexico, educated in
Mexico , because I think the education there is a little better. So I said to myself, well, I want
my child to be born here, and I said to my husband, ‘you know here [Mexico], we don’t have
a house’ we have to live with his parents and family members, ‘I want my house, my own
car, everything. And, I want for my baby to be born there [US].’ And he said, ‘well, go and as
soon as she is born we’ll come back.’ But, no, I came much before him. He came almost
when the baby was born.
These four cases exemplify the trend within this local sample in differences of motivation
for migration based on gender. Both Hector and Miguel demonstrate the more predominately male
motivation to take advantage of the wage differential between the United States and Mexico. Raquel
and Guille express the more female rationale of family unification and need to provide for their
children. This is not to say that family unity was not important for males and economic motivations
were not influential for females. Hector, though he initially expresses his motives in economic terms,
does articulate the need to preserve family cohesiveness. Likewise, Guille, though her intent was to
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provide her child with the legal privileges of American citizenship, is motivated by the wage
differential to work in the United States for a time before returning to Mexico.
Plans for return varied greatly throughout the sample. Reflecting the findings of the previous
analysis of the Mexican Migration Project, respondents were found to be a different points along
their migration trajectories of settlement, continual circulation, or eventual return migration and
permanent re-settlement in Mexico. Their individual plans varied by gender, age, documentation
status and motivation and were found to be as unspecified as Andres, a 17 years old hotel custodian,
who said, “I would like to return in three or four years to my country...” or as specific as Maribel, a
34 dishwasher, who explains, “I have always planned to return… I will go home in December [six
months hence]… I’ll go back by land, using the same system. We can’t go any other way….”
Juan is single, twenty-five, and has been working as an inspector in a factory that fabricates
parts for aircraft for one and a half years. He came to the United States five years ago from
Acapulco, Mexico. Before coming to the United States he had completed his first year of law school,
owned a car, and had a job in his father’s company. While in school one of his friend invited him to
come to the United States. He contacted his older brother, who was then living in Texas, and
decided he would give it a try. He explains, though, that he is torn between settlement and return:
Juan: My plan right now is to save, save, for tomorrow so that I may buy a house. It’s that I
don’t know…
Juan: Here in the United States. Frankly, I am thinking, I’m in a situation in my life where I
don’t know where to stay. My father needs for me to go there to…, you know he’s a little
tired and needs someone to help out. My brother is there, but my brother doesn’t like this
business… and he [father] says I would like for you to come and advance this business, take
it forwards. For this reason I am undecided to stay here or go there. Do you understand? But,
I don’t know, I don’t know really what kind of life I would have here. I don’t know, because
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what I have seen and what I have been assimilating and thinking about in my future, I
think I would be doing the same thing [work]. Do you understand? How long is it going to
be before I have papers. Am I going to keep on being illegal for ten more years? It’s going to
be the same. Still at the same factory. And there I could be the boss because my father is the
owner of the business. I can be the boss, I could order, I could pay, it would be different…
Juan: And without papers, exactly. [There] I would be speaking my own language. Do you
understand? I’d have a better life there because my mother is there and my brothers
[siblings]. But, I also have to consider that here I can have my own life. Do you understand?
But, I don’t know. The truth is that I think it will be ok here. I think it will be ok because the
situation in Mexico now is very difficult. The economic crisis is very difficult. The truth is
there are a lot of very poor people. Many people here in the North, on the border don’t have
enough to even buy a gallon of milk. You know it. There are children who don’t have
enough even to bathe, they don’t have clothes. It makes you think, to reflect, how can you
return to that country? Here I’ve had opportunity.
Juan is perhaps unlike most migrants. He comes from a relatively upper middle-class family,
has had some college education, speaks English well and has found his way into a well-paying job.
This economic success can be seen as the effect of his high degree of social and human capital, as
well as his ambition. As he makes clear, “ I am a very secure person. I see something I want and I
get because I believe I can.” Yet, like others, he feels the pull of familial obligation and the push of
Hector also is undecided, but very pragmatic about settlement. Unlike Juan, he has a wife
and children here. He sees these family ties to the United States as well as his economic ties (income
I don’t know. I don’t have plans right now. I don’t think I will be able to return...I feel a little
firmer here now. More firm [stable] in being here. Because, it is like, there are two things
here. When a person doesn’t have family here. When all their family is in Mexico, this person
has the probability of returning because there he has his family, his children, he has to be
sending money there so his family can survive there. And I don’t. I don’t because I have my
family here. I have my wife, my children. I am here incurring expenses like paying for rent,
and light, and the telephone, and things that one needs to buy. I have to buy gasoline. They
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are thing that everyone has to buy. But they are expenses that I have here in the US. And
it would be better if I could have the same quality in Mexico. I miss the family [relatives] and
I care for them a lot because they are my family. But I am a big person and here I have my
wife and I have to look out for my children. I have to watch out for them now….
Hector’s brother, Raul, is a married thirty-four year old with some vocational training. He
too is here with his wife and children. In his narrative, he discusses the nature of the transnational
labor circuit and how he and his family have made the symbolic transformation of orientation from
Raul: A Mexican who comes here to US many, many times, many times he comes here, of
course, to work. To save up money, and that’s it. Right? But, I think there is something
more, there is something more. Because, simply if we take notice that many times if a
Mexican comes here to work, he works, he saves money and returns to our country until the
money runs out then anew he returns here to earn more money and return again. It is like
something in our thinking is not right… we have to decide if we want to stay here or there,
right? For me it is like saying were going to go there, and then make a change and continue
on. And for me, when I came here for the first time and became familiar with this place, I
said this is good for my family and me and we can try to open a store.
In contrast, Alan (Guille’s husband), who like Juan has some college education in Mexico
but came to assist his wife while she was having her child, finds that his time here has altered his
plans. His original intent to simply have the child (so that she would have legal status in the United
States) and then return was not as easy to complete as expected. He has found that as he has
expanded his experience of the world to a more international level (he now reads Japanese comics in
Spanish on the internet), he wants more than to simply return to a life in Mexico:
… I do want to return to finish school because here [school is] very expensive, very
expensive, very difficult... In my life here, I'm trying to give the best effort I can to together
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enough money to return someday. But, I would also like to travel and have another child,
she (points to wife) would like another child, but I would like to go in see other places.
England maybe. I know it's really far away. So I want to be here, but also want to return.
Paulina, a twenty-eight year old mother of three who works evenings cleaning offices,
originally came to the Phoenix area to be with her consensual union partner. However, when they
separated several years ago (after he physically abused her) she remained. She expresses her desire to
I would like to return there, but in what form would I be able to maintain my children?
There is no work. And if there is work it only pays 35 pesos [about $3 US] a day. With this,
one can’t eat. A kilo of beans is ten pesos, and tortillas are six pesos. Do you believe there
would be enough to feed my children? With three children? It is difficult… My plans for the
future are to help my children as much as possible so that they may have a career here, so
that they are not like us [Mexican migrants]. More than anything I want, not that they earn
more or anything, but that they will be respected. It is not important that they will be
Chicanos, but that they will be respected. And that they will feel this because they will be
able to say I am this and I have a career. Not like me being a janitor…
Her concern for her children outweighs her own personal desires to return. In this case, the
obligation of providing for children in the United States is the driving motivation for settlement.
The most she hopes for is a general amnesty that will allow her to find work more easily. She says,
“for myself, I want no more than to look for more work so I can keep up, so that they [children]
don’t go without the indispensable things…If God allows, I will try to get a visa.”
Thus, while the initial motivation to migrate to the United States may have been for
purposes of personal economic improvement or family unification, these plans are often altered by
new opportunities and experiences in the receiving context. In all, there were eighteen respondents
who expressed some plan to return eventually, while nine said they would never go back to Mexico
(one was completely undecided). Plans did range from an intangible “someday” or “ when I retire”
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to “in two months.” Yet, as Belinda Reyes indicates in her report on return migration to Mexico,
factors such as labor market participation, documentation status, transferable human and social
capital, and characteristics of the receiving location have great influence in determining the
probability of return (Reyes 1997). These structural influences are perhaps stronger ultimately than
the migrant’s intent to settle or return. Nonetheless, these plans for settlement or return do indicate
a general orientation of symbolic ties and a personal commitment to the United States, Mexico, or
both countries.
The respondents have had varied experiences in the receiving context from little or no
difference in the quality of their lives to many hardships including lack of hospitality by the majority
culture, lack of financial or social support, and outright racism. Leticia, for example, sees little
change in the quality of her life. As a homemaker, she is not directly confronted with cultural
differences. She says, “If I am here, I am here. If I go there, I am there. There is no difference
except to be on the other side [of the border].” However, more often were indications of a
diminished satisfaction with their personal lives in trade for better economic prospects. Andres (who
has been here for only a few months), Alan (here for more than a year), and Rosa (with more than
thirty-five years as a US resident, but only recently moved to Phoenix) all found the local context
Andres - I am from Mexico and in the land of 'gringos,' I still feel Mexican and don't let go
of my customs even though I am in another country.... Well, I think it is difficult because for
Mexicans... sometimes we spend a lot of energy in our work because it is very difficult here
and there isn't a lot of support for us. Sometimes there is a lot of racism, racism toward us
Mexicans….
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Alan - Well, it is very difficult [being Mexican in the US] because you must break with all
of your social group. You really feel different. One can't feel as if you are truly North
American because you just aren't. And, he really can't feel Mexican either because you are
not within your circle. It's very difficult for me. I try to act like what I see. Do you
understand ? But, it takes a lot of effort.... For me, well, here people don't like to chat a lot,
people don't like to live together. For this reason, I try not to bother them too much when
it isn't necessary. In Mexico you can go up to any house and they will receive you, and talk
with you, and embrace you... here no.
Rosa - It is hard. Very hard. For a Mexican, there is discrimination… In El Paso there wasn’t
as much as here. I have traveled a little in the US, and the discrimination that I saw was most
in Nashville and Dallas and here. It is very strong here…It has caused me a lot of trouble
here at work. Even after a few months here… It is difficult, very difficult.
Gregorio adds that some of the lack of hospitality is the result of legislation and a political
environment on both sides of the border that has to date lacked support for peasants and working-
class Mexicans:
For me personally it is a little sad because, it's to say, that the people here, la migra [INS], they
don't want the Mexicans and don't even give the opportunity for amnesty, for example in the
case of the amnesty before [1986]... I don't know why, maybe because of how we are, our
demeanor… Possibly if the United States would help, and also if Mexicans would unite, it is
possible that it would get better, that there would be more force for Fox [recently elected
president of Mexico]. But he alone as president can't do it. But we don't know, we hope
that he'll work...
This perception of the receiving context as inhospitable may act to strengthen bonds
common adversity has the effect of helping to define a community as a unique group. This
community, with its strengthened sense of common identity, will then engage in the production and
preservation of the home culture (see ‘ethnic resiliency’ in Portes and Rambaut 1990). At this point,
a transnational community emerges in the sense of a “collective representations” with symbolic ties
of common language, cultural practices, religion, nationality, and ethnicity (Faist 2000b).
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Ties to Mexico
the home community and a separation from one’s social and family ties. All respondents had
extended family in Mexico and three respondents, all involved in transnational labor circulation,
have a spouse and children still in the home country [See Appendix C]. Moreover, only two
respondents, of the twenty-eight, have no close social ties (as measured by immediate family or
When social ties were explored in the interviews, the theme of longing to be with the family
and friends, coupled with an inability to return due to economic circumstances, emerged. Gregorio
(33, married, prep-cook in a restaurant), Andres (17, single, hotel custodian), and Maribel (34,
Gregorio - …in my case I am the oldest in the family and I never thought I would be so far
from my family. And, in reality, when I think about it, I feel strange like, how can I say it,
like I'd want to return. But, one can't do that. Perhaps because of pride, or because
returning is expensive. [One must] try and save [the amount of money] you have focused on,
focused on like your fixed goal.
Andres - Well, the emotional connection is somewhat that of dissatisfaction because we are
not together with our families and with our friends that are in another country and we can't
see them…. Here, well, we make more money and all, but our friendships and family are in
another country and there are times when one feels very sad being here and out of one's
country.
Maribel - It is difficult. It is difficult because we are so far from our loved ones. For this it is
very difficult. It is beautiful because here one works here so one can send money there. It
benefits them a lot. Horrible is our money [Mexico]. One sends money and they exchange it.
On that side they are content because one is here working but it is also sad….
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Jorge, a single twenty year old working as a carpenter, adds that it is not only an economic issue, but
also one of the increased difficulties in border crossing: “It is a little difficult, being here and the
family there. Of course, one feels sad. And I am here for some time without seeing them, and can’t
go there… you know the problem of not going there without the problem of coming back.
of the respondents continue to maintain ties while abroad, even if they cannot visit. Table 10 shows
the frequency and method of contact with relatives and friends in Mexico. Twenty-three (82%)
interviewees in the sample are in touch on a monthly basis, with relatives or friends, by either
telephone or letters (note that only two respondents used the internet to contact friends in Mexico).
Telephone was the preferred means of contact, and the growing availability of inexpensive prepaid
telephone cards was evident as twenty-two respondents used them to pay for calls.
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Table 10 –Frequency and Method of Social Ties with Homeland
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Ties to the United States
All of the respondents showed strong family and social ties in the United States. This may be
due to the nature of the sampling procedure, as most respondents were found
by referrals of friends and family members. All of the respondents, therefore, had some close social
or family tie in the United States (though not always in the Phoenix area). Thirteen of sixteen
married migrants (81%) were accompanied by their spouse, a rate that is much higher than that of
the findings of the Mexican Migration Project. This may be a result of the network sample or a
change in migration pattern as migrants move toward settlement rather than circulation. Of the
respondents only two had no immediate family ties in the United States: Gregorio, whose wife,
children and other family members remain in Mexico while he works here sending 40% of his
earnings home; and Refugio, who also has a wife, children and family in Mexico and sends more
than 60% of his income to Mexico. Both men are examples of the traditional labor circuit, relying on
social contacts in the United States (they each have close friends from their hometown here in
Phoenix) to provide job referrals, shared housing, and other resources. Both have made multiple
trips (Refugio has been here six times and Gregorio three), circulating between homeland and
employment opportunities in the United States. Both have plans to return to Mexico.
Alternatively, migrants who were most integrated and assimilated into US culture were found
to be distinct from others. Francisco, for example, is a twenty three year old university student
originally from a town in Chihuahua, Mexico. His family moved to New Mexico when he was a
baby, but only stayed for two years. They returned, permanently, about sixteen or seventeen years
ago. He was granted permanent residence status four years ago after the family applied for the
general amnesty. His youngest two siblings (out of five) are citizens as they were born here.
Francisco’s extended family on the paternal side live mostly in the United States (Arizona, New
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Mexico and Texas), while most of his mother’s family lives in Mexico. He is only infrequently in
contact with these relatives. He is, however, an active member of various social and recreational
groups in the United States. These groups include a softball team, a racquetball club, a Hispanic
rights group, and a local business association for students, etc. in addition to his church youth group
and choir. Thus he demonstrates strong social and family ties to the United States and weak ties to
Francisco characterizes his identity as being pan-Hispanic. He points out: “I don’t really label
anyone Chicano or Mexican, I see myself as a person, I see every person of Hispanic background, of
Latino background, as one people even though they’ve been here for a long time. It’s like an
extended family….” He does say that he has a different relationship with his friends who are of
Hispanic background than with his Anglo friends, but points out that it is more a matter of language
and culture. Interestingly, though as a Mexican migrant who has lived here for most of his life, he
says his identification as a Mexican or as a Chicano is dependent upon his social situation: “I believe
depending on the situation and who are the people I am talking to. Actually, I have been able to
take on all of those identities.” This practice of shifting between identities has been noted in the
literature (for example Glick Schiller and Fouron 1999) and is especially important in our
environment.
Francisco also associates frequently with Anglos and to a lesser degree Asian American. His
position as a student worker puts him in contact with many people and he has formed friendships
beyond the Hispanic community. He describes the frequency of his associations as approximately
50% with Hispanics, 30% with non-Hispanic Whites, and about 20% with Asians. All of his friends,
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he says, live in the United States either in Phoenix or in California and Texas. He only has indirect
contact, through family members, with extended family in Mexico. As he moved here at a very
Diversity of ethnic ties was used in the earlier analysis as a measure of acculturation.
Following assimilation theory (Gordon 1964, as cited in Alba and Nee 1997; Clark 1998), social
boundaries begin to break down following economic and spatial assimilation. While Francisco is
exemplary of this assimilation pattern (he lives in a primarily Anglo neighborhood, attends
university, and has a diversity of social ties), it was found that on the whole migrants in this sample
African-American 3 24 1
Asian 7 21 0
Latino (non-Mexican) 10 18 0
Chicano 10 15 3
Non-Hispanic White 14 14 0
ethnic groups, especially Asians and African-Americans [Table 11].19 There was only slightly more
association with non-Mexican Latinos and Chicanos. Moreover, the most association beyond co-
ethnics occurred with non-Hispanic Whites. However, as Hector indicates, whom one defines as a
Well, in the car wash where I work there are two people [Chicanos] there, two people, with
whom I get along well. Like co-workers, we get along well. No, I don’t have any problem
with them…It is difficult to say really who a friend is though. You might introduce someone
as ‘this is my friend.’ But, there are so many things that really defines one as a friend….
19
This may be reflective of the fact that only 2.4% of Maricopa County residents (which includes greater Phoenix
metro area) are Asian and only 4.2% African-American (US Census Bureau 2000).
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There were several reports of problems between ethnic groups, primarily with Chicanos. The
perception (however erroneous) among several of the respondents was that many Chicanos are
involved in criminal activities or have a sense of superiority over Mexican immigrants. Refugio
I haven’t had much to do with Chicanos. In reality they are a little bit problematic in some
occasions. I’ve tried to distance myself a little from them so that I wouldn’t have any
problems with them. So, now I practically have no problems with them…there are problems
like they are associated with crimes, and if you are with them you might be associated with
this type of person and have a problem.
The strongest response was from Juan. With a disdainful expression and passionate tone, he
explained his viewpoint slipping back and forth between English and Spanish:
Juan: None! None! The truth is they don’t sit well with me. The truth is they don’t sit well
with me, because I have the idea that, I have the idea, well not all are the same, but I have a
very different idea than they do. They know that their families are from Mexico. That they
were illegal. But, they were born here and they feel very big, very big like they are more than
you are even though the face is the same. It is completely a Mexican [face]. But they say ‘I’m
born here. I’m from the United States. I’m an American Citizen.’ I know that you are born here but
‘look at your face bro’ you’re like me.’ So, you don’t have to be like that if you are Mexican. Look
at your father. For this reason I don’t have any relations with…
In conclusion, the migrants in this sample were found to have family and social ties in both
Mexico and the United States. The ties, especially to family in the homeland, were maintained with
varying but regular frequency. While ties to Mexican family and friends usually were equated with a
sense of longing or sadness at having to be apart, the economic and legal structures of the migration
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process limit the migrants in their ability to return or to circulate. Ties in the United States were
strongest with family and co-ethnic friends from the homeland. With few exceptions, there was little
diversity of ties other than necessary contact with co-workers and employers. Whereas most
informal associations were with co-nationals, differences between US born and foreign-born co-
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Table 12 – Economic Ties
Rent
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Economic Ties
Economic ties to the United States were by far the strongest bonds preventing some who
would return to Mexico from doing so while helping to cement others to the receiving context. In
several cases, individuals with strong familial and social ties in Mexico remain in the United States
only to earn money to remit to the homeland. In contrast, those with weak social and familial ties to
Mexico also had weak economic ties to their country and very low levels of remittances [Table 12].
Levels of remittance varied from zero to more than 60% of monthly earnings. In the cases
of very high levels of remittance (40% of income or more), there is a correspondence with strong
family ties and plans for eventual permanent return settlement in Mexico. Likewise, in cases of no
remittance, only weak to medium family ties in Mexico. And in those few cases of strong family ties
in Mexico, but no remittance, there is a lack of need for money to be sent from abroad. For
example, Juan’s entire family lives in Mexico but he sends no money: “No, I don’t send money, the
truth is my parents don’t need money. My father has a business in Mexico…and my mother sells
clothing. She has her own store selling clothing. So, they don’t need anything from me. All that I
Economic ties to the United States took the form of both income and expenses. As saw
previously shown, in Hector’s case, expenses in the United States act to keep the migrant here
longer or even permanently. Guille and Alan originally intended to return after the birth of their
daughter and they had saved enough to return and have a home of their own. However, they have
had to extend their trip after her car broke down and then they were forced to find a new apartment.
These economic obstacles have delayed return as they had to start saving for a second time.
Generally, economic ties were indicative of the larger structural influences of the migration
system. Wage differentials and employment opportunities draw migrants to the United States, while
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relative costs of circulation (both real and perceived) hold them here. Migrants with weak or no
social and family ties in the United States, and strong economic ties to the home country, all had
definite plans for eventual return. Likewise, there is a propensity for migrants, with many close
family members residing in the United States, to settle in the United States regardless of the strength
Symbolic Ties
Transnational symbolic ties have been defined in the literature as public and private
activities, which include: language use; popular cultural practices (such as sports, music, dance, arts,
foods, and social customs); maintenance of norms and values; attentiveness to national media; and
usage of cultural or national icons (for example, flags, emblems, portraits of national heroes, etc.)
20
Of the four migrants with weak economic ties in the US, all had very strong family and social ties holding them
here.
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Joel Mexican Mexican Both US Mexican US US Both
Jorge Mexican Mexican Both US US Mexican US Mexican
Juan US Mexican US US US Mexican --- Mexican
Leticia Both Mexican Mexican US US Mexican US Both
Lucia Mexican Mexican Mexican US US Mexican US Both
Maria --- Mexican Mexican Mexican Mexican Mexican US ---
Maribel Mexican Mexican Mexican --- --- Mexican US Mexican
Martina Mexican Mexican Mexican Mexican Mexican Mexican --- Both
Miguel Mexican Mexican Both US US Mexican --- Mexican
Paulina Mexican Mexican Both US Mexican Mexican Mexican Mexican
Raquel Mexican Mexican US US --- Mexican --- Mexican
Raul Both Mexican --- US Mexican US US ---
Refugio Mexican Mexican Mexican US US Mexican Both Mexican
Rodolfo Mexican Mexican Mexican US --- Mexican --- Both
Rosa Both US US Both Both Mexican Mexican ---
Roxana Both Mexican Both US Both Mexican US Mexican
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further delineated symbolic ties to “narrow” and “broad” transnational cultural practices (1999).
In their study of Dominicans in the United States, they define narrow practices as those in which
migrants participate in the production and preservation of homeland cultural practices while abroad.
In turn, broad practices are those in which an individual identifies with the homeland, while
participating in the cultural practices of the United States (Itzigsohn et al. 1999).
In this survey, questions were asked regarding the migrant’s cultural practices, language use,
use of icons, and nationalistic self-identification [see Appendix B for survey questions]. Individual
responses were coded and then collapsed into the categories Spanish, English, both or Mexican,
American, both (in the case of food the category - international – was also used) [Table 13].
Summative figures indicate that orientation of symbolic ties of the majority of individuals in the
sample were toward both Mexico and the United States, indicating perhaps the existence of a
transnational social space [Table 14]. On the extremes, were five individuals whose primary cultural
ties were to the United States and five whose ties were oriented toward Mexico. This range of
orientation indicates a continuum of cultural ties that, when considered together with economic and
social ties may indicate a level of acculturation, isolation or participation in transnational fields. As
Table 14 – Relative Orientation and Strength of Social, Economic and Symbolic Ties
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Mostly Spanish 5 2 7
Both - More Spanish 3 2 5
Both – Equal Usage 1 1 2
English Only 0 0 0
Relative Orientation of Symbolic Ties
Mexico 2 3 5
Both 14 9 25
USA 0 0 0
Relative Family and Social Ties – Mexico
Weak 2 3 5
Medium 12 8 20
Strong 2 1 3
Relative Strength of Homeland Ties
Weak 3 1 4
Medium 13 8 21
Strong 0 3 3
Relative Family and Social Ties - USA
Weak 3 1 4
Medium 12 8 20
Strong 1 3 4
Relative Economic Ties - Mexico
Weak 9 6 15
Medium 1 3 4
Strong 2 2 4
Relative Economic Ties - USA
Weak 1 4 5
Medium 0 3 3
Strong 15 5 20
TOTALS 16 12 28
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meaning engendered by and expressed in private and public behaviours, images,
institutions, and languages (Faist 2000b).
As follow-up to the questions regarding cultural practices, respondents were asked to define,
in their own terms, their personal sense of patriotism and national identity. Some respondents were
initially confused by these concepts, perhaps as there is no one “Mexican” identity but rather many
regional identities with few commonalities other than language and religion. Mexico is yet a country
with few universal symbols, recognized landmarks, and unifying cultural traditions. Each region has
had a separate history of conquest, numerous ethnic differences, distinct cultural practices, and even
regional linguistic differentiation. Maribel, for example, points out that national identity is for her the
Identity for me is, well, for example our traditions in Oaxaca. We have many traditions. One
of them is the third Monday of the month of July, in which we have a very big celebration. It
is called ‘Third Monday’ and is celebrated all over the state of Oaxaca. It is a big festival.
Within the state, there are dances and many things to do. There are other celebrations we
have like Dia de los Muertos. It is the first of November, where all Oaxacans hold a very
beautiful celebration. We celebrate death and the spirits of ancestors. We decorate a big table
with many fruits, all the fruits, apples, avocados, nuts, and vases with yellow flowers. Later
people prepare mole and tamales and frijoles because it is the tradition to eat tamales with mole.
There are many festivals that are very beautiful. For example, there is Christmas. Christmas
there is very beautiful with all of the six posadas reenacting the birth of the child God. One
identifies with these celebrations…. Well, it is very beautiful there. Very beautiful….the
traditions, the culture that they have. The way of working to improve and move ahead. They
work there in crafts, this is their way of living. I like everything. I like it there a lot…
Similarly, Refugio refers to his hometown also when explaining what it is to be Mexican:
I am from Guanajuato, Mexico, this is my identity…there are many differences from one
state to the next. The way of speaking, the way of living… there are even problems of how
one state associates with another. We have different festivals… Even if I had legal status
here in the US, I would still be Mexican… My emotion for my land is that it is where I was
born and raised. I grew up learning the ways of my homeland. I am called by my
homeland…. We [Mexicans] are always thinking in our country. We know that our country
exists, but what we are doing here is for one’s individual benefit, to get ourselves ahead a
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little… but we know we are living in two parts. We are working here so we will have an
easier life in Mexico…
This idea of working hard to create a better future emerges again in several other narratives.
Paulina, for instance, believes it is part of the national character of Mexicans to work hard, but feels
that it is the lack of opportunity to work hard that brings them here:
Sincerely I believe that Mexicans are the hardest workers and the most sincere… also I think
it is Machismo… For us women, we are very hard workers. Even though we have very little
education because we don’t have the money to study, for this reason I am here cleaning
buildings and there are those people working in the fields here in the US. People who work
construction, they are doing work that can pay well, but for us [Mexicans] they don’t pay as
well because we don’t have much education. You know that we can’t argue for more pay
either because they would say “get out I have other workers…” For as much of a Mexican
that I am, for as much a Mexican citizen that I am, there is nothing for me. This [US] is the
country that gives me my food, it gives me more opportunities for everything, including for
my children.
In yet another case, Alan describes Mexicans as being sacrificing and suffering, but not necessarily
hard working: “Being Mexican, for me, means, uh, well, we are a race that possibly is very sacrificing,
maybe very suffering also. And, well many are advancing but it is very costly…. Well, um, I feel
good being Mexican, but I feel that Mexicans, well, some of us, well many of us, are very flojos
[lazy].” This perception may be shaped, in part, by the receiving context. The dominant society, in
the border area especially, defines ‘Mexicaness’ as something less than equal to majority culture.
With the recent debate over bilingual education21, growing acrimony toward undocumented
migration, and increased restrictions on legal migrants, combined with much media coverage of the
so-called ‘social problems’ associated with migration, the Southwest has become a less than receptive
environment for the maintenance of narrow cultural practices and symbolic transnational ties. Rosa,
21
Measures passed in both California and now Arizona to eliminate bilingual education in favor of English
immersion programs.
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in fact says she has purposively discarded many of her cultural practices in an attempt to integrate
more easily:
I am Mexican. Firstly, I was born in Mexico and have family and ancestors in Mexico. My
blood is Mexican…my language, more than anything my language… I have tried to get rid
of Mexican traditions a little. If I compare myself with my mother and my sisters I am
completely different… because, unfortunately, in my life it is better in the US than in Mexico
and if we talk about culture only, Mexico is good and all, but for my children it was better in
the US.
In summary, symbolic ties are found in both daily cultural practices and in broader
identification with a particular national group. In this sample, cultural practices were found to be
oriented in a continuum from home country to receiving context, with a preponderance displaying
orientation toward the popular cultures of both countries. On the other hand, personal identity for
the migrant appears to be strongest for the native region of Mexico and as a reaction to the receiving
context possibly as a result of reactive ethnicity (Portes and Rambaut 1990; Popkin 1999). Further
investigation into the direction of cultural practices, personal identification and, perhaps more
importantly, changes in norms and attitudes would be useful in gauging the shift from local to trans-
The core group that emerged from the sample was comprised of twenty-one individuals that
were connected in a web of formal and informal social ties and direct family bonds. There were
three principle informants who independently contacted me and then provided referrals to other
members in the network. Occupying a central spot in the network was a couple from Mexico City
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(Guille and Alan) who each provided three contacts and was acquainted with the other two
informants. In the analysis of network ties, a strong picture of transnational kinship groups becomes
apparent from this core group [see Appendix D]. And, from the sub-group of Oaxacan migrants,
who were known to each other in Mexico and live in the same apartment building (Maribel, Lucia,
An additional network of more formal ties was found from the informant in the local
Catholic Church group (Francisco). Though unknown to one another in the home country, these
five individuals represent the power of formal social groups to build a sense of community that
transcends social and political boundaries. Individuals in this group included several immigrants with
long-term legal status, as well as members who had arrived as little as six months prior with no
documentation. As all of the members of this network were participants in the youth choir, a
somewhat different picture of a transnational social space emerges. It is a space that tends to
Faist identifies transnational kinship groups as a form of social space that relies on
reciprocity and the maintenance of social norms of providing for relatives. Faist contends that
remittances are the primary example of this type of transnational social space (2000b). Just under
half of the migrants remit earnings to the home country. However, reciprocity is also an element in
the decision of migrants to choose a particular destination for settlement or even temporary
migration. For instance, many of the migrants in this sample chose Phoenix because of family ties in
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this area. In this context they would have a support network to aid them in housing, job referrals,
Guille, who came to have her child here and then return, had been to the United States twice
before. In deciding the destination for this trip, she chose not to return to California where she had
been before, but to come to Phoenix where her sister has lived with her husband for the past four
years. Likewise, Fatima, Raquel, Martina, Roxana, and Maria all came to be with their husbands,
siblings and children. The men, too, chose their destination by presence of family members. Diego,
Juan, Raul, Hector, Rodolfo, Andres, and Jorge all have siblings or other relatives in the Phoenix
area. This trend clearly illustrates the nature of migration for purposes of family reunification and
mutual support. In the cases of the women, however, it appears that migration to follow one’s
spouse is a significant occurrence. In contrast, men, with perhaps the exception of Alan who
followed his wife here, often come first to establish a residence and job before sending for their
wives and children (see also Massey 1986, 1987; Massey et al. 1987).
Transnational Circuits
Transnational circuits are identified by the mechanism of mutual exchange between peers.
The sub-group of social network associations between Gregorio, Jorge, Lucia, and Maribel is a
superb example of a transnational circuit. Each of the respondents was known to the others in their
hometown Oaxaca, Mexico. Although several have other family members (siblings and cousins) in
the United States, they chose to come to Phoenix because of these social ties. They share an
apartment, split utilities and other expenses, have helped one another with job leads, and presently
22
This notion may be disputed in some cases. See Menjivar (2000) for the case of how these social support networks
based on reciprocity hinder, rather than help Salvadoran migrants.
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are all sharing in supporting Lucia who recently fractured her arm and is unable to work. These
mutual obligations are clearly shared and responsibility falls equally on all parties.
Importantly they also provide support for each other in more symbolic ways. As Maribel
explains, they have relied on one another for emotional support as well as financial support:
Precisely today, we are all from the same town [people in room], and today we feel a little
sad because today is the festival of our town. So, we are all made to think about the festival
and what we are missing - the fireworks, the foods, and everything - because we are not
there… but also, we say it is good since they [our families] have received our earnings that
we sent them. We do all we can to send it to them and so they would have it [money] for this
festival. It is difficult, but on the contrary it is also good… there are various ways to look at
it.
Transnational Communities
symbolic ties to the homeland and creation of new transnational identities (Faist 2000b). Although
many of the members of the core network are involved in the continuation of traditions and
customs of their homeland, the respondents from the Church group were most clearly the strongest
proponents of creation of a unified identity. Moreover, the identity that emerges in this particular
It is important to note that the Church group meets at a charismatic Catholic mission. The
evangelical movement has been spreading throughout Latin America (as well as Asia and Africa) in
the past few decades. Fueled by missionaries from the United States and the changing orientation of
developing countries away from tradition and toward Western culture (possibly as a by-product of
modern global capitalism), evangelical and charismatic movements are acquiring new followers at a
significant rate. This movement within the Catholic Church may be viewed as a blending of cultures:
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traditional Catholic doctrine of Latin American countries and a more ‘American’ evangelism
growing out of Protestantism. Thus, the Catholic Renewal Mission creates a transcultural space
The members within this network were all under thirty, had more than a secondary
education, and most had at least some extended relatives in the area (the exception was Juan who
had followed his friend here). They were equally divided between documented and undocumented
and all of those who were undocumented were on their first and only trip to the United States [see
Appendix E].
From the extremes that are represented within the group (Francisco and Miguel) a similarity
in dual orientation of symbolic ties can be observed. While Francisco has been here for almost
twenty years and has the strongest family and social ties to the United States, he also had strong
symbolic ties to both Mexico and the United States. He is a fluent bilingual and prefers Mexican
cultural practices in most cases. Nevertheless, as mention before, he does not restrict himself
who has only been here for one year and has only weak family ties to the United States, was found
also to have symbolic ties to both the United States and Mexico. He attends a community college
program to improve his English skills, prefers US most entertainment and has many fiends at the
church. However, Miguel plans to one day return and establish a business in Mexico and is saving to
do so.
While individuals within the group have varying levels of ties to the United States and
Mexico, observations of the group during their weekly meetings generated a depiction of community
creation of culture of a hybrid culture. The group meets a neighborhood ministry located in a long
flat industrial building connected to a paint supply company and a Protestant evangelical revival
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church. Unlike other light industrial use buildings in the area, the exterior is freshly painted, the
small parking area is free of debris, and the walk in front to the building is freshly washed. The
façade of the building is dominated by the image of the Virgin de Guadalupe a cultural icon clearly
On any given Friday, there are about a half dozen males and females who use keyboards,
microphones, electric guitars, mixing board, drums, and all of the equipment typically associated
with an American rock and roll band. Dress is casual, although robes might be worn on special
occasions. The majority of the members of the group are Mexican born. Consequently, the
predominate language is Spanish although there was some mixing with English (especially technical
vocabulary regarding musical equipment). The members of the youth choir compose songs during
choir practices that are reflective of their personal lives here and their religious expression. The
music is upbeat, almost rock and roll, with Spanish lyrics and themes. They also are involved in
creating decorations for the mission (often blending cultural and religious icons from Mexico with
an American style of presentation), visiting other parochial missions, attending revivals, and going
member of a community with strong symbolic ties to the homeland, practical linkages with the
Conclusions
In this study, social, economic, and most importantly symbolic ties are shown to be related
fields. Individual migrants are demonstrated as belonging to various social spaces depending upon
such factors as: their motivation for migration; plans for return; presence of social and timely ties in
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the local receiving context; involvement in preservation of cultural practices of the homeland; and
activities which create new or hybrid culture. Migrants, whether as a reaction to racism, segregation,
a lack of equal opportunities, or a longing for the mythical homeland, do maintain symbolic ties with
Mexico, even when social and economic ties have been cut.
Hypothesis Four stated that strong symbolic ties to the U.S. would result in greater
acculturation. However, this premise is not been entirely supported by the Phoenix sample. While
spatial, economic, educational and social integration with majority culture (assimilation) was
observed in many cases, they did not preclude symbolic ties to the homeland. In fact, no migrants
were observed to have an overall orientation of symbolic ties toward the United States. Even those
who had spent considerable time in the receiving context (e.g. Rosa, Francisco, Refugio, Graciela)
showed preference for cultural practices of the homeland or both sending and receiving contexts,
but never for the United States alone. It is apparent that the age at which the migrant came to the
United States and a number of years here are the greater determinants of assimilation as those most
integrated into American life had been here for the longest time. As well, the receiving context may
play an important role in the process of acculturation. In the Phoenix area, there are many resources
for Mexican migrants that enable them to maintain symbolic as well as social ties to the homeland
(Spanish language TV and radio, eateries, shopping centers, churches, etc). In another locale, which
lacks any of these resources, migrants may be more inclined to adopt cultural practices of the
majority.
Hypothesis Five, in contrast, posited that strong symbolic ties to the homeland and weak ties
to the United States would result in the least social integration into American society. This
hypothesis is supported by the cases in the sample. Javier, Maria, Maribel, Martina and Rodolfo all
have strong symbolic ties to Mexico. Although Javier (landscape gardener) and his wife Raquel
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(homemaker) have settled in the United States and even raised their six children here, almost all of
their cultural practices and preferences indicated unyielding symbolic ties to the homeland. Although
Javier works outside the home, he remains isolated from American culture as he works entirely with
other Mexicans and associates very little with individuals from other ethnic groups. Like Raquel,
Maria and Martina are homemakers. Both followed their husbands and have no ties outside of the
family. Thus, they are generally cut off from American cultural influences. Although both of their
families live in racially integrated apartment complexes, they say, due to legal status and lack of
English skills, that they stay to themselves. Martina in particular says she dislikes living here and
wishes to return to her hometown in Sonora. She is held here by her husband’s job and the
economic welfare of her two daughters. Maribel, who has four children who have been living with
their grandmother in Oaxaca since their father disappeared, is here also for economic reasons. Her
symbolic and social ties are all oriented toward Mexico and toward her hometown specifically. She
has definite plans for return and no intention to settle here. These cases demonstrate that for a
variety of reasons and under various conditions when symbolic ties are strongly in favor of the home
country, the migrant will be socially and culturally isolated from the mainstream.
Strongest perhaps is evidence in support of hypothesis six: strong symbolic ties to both the
United States and Mexico will create a transnational social space where migrants may mix or blend
cultural practices. The majority of migrants interviewed demonstrated dual symbolic ties:
bilingualism, entertainment preferences from both countries, use of cultural icons from Mexico
while residing in US, and other cultural practices that indicated a bifurcation of symbolic ties. More
importantly, many of the respondents were actively involved in the maintenance of homeland
culture and creation of hybrid transnational cultures. Beyond the example of those respondents
from the church group sample, other hybrid cultural practices included:
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94
Membership in a predominately Mexican Amway group (Raul and Hector).
Raquel).
These symbolic ties, especially when combined with social and familial bonds to Mexico, create
transnational social fields in which migrants maintain connections to the homeland while living
abroad. These transnational fields may take the forms of transnational kinship groups, transnational
obligation, and solidarity. Moreover, these social fields are not unambiguous, discrete categories as
individual migrants may belong to one or all of the categories. Equally, individual participation in
transnational social fields are represented by a continuum of involvement as members have varied
social and symbolic bonds to the United States and Mexico. Thus, the degree of embeddedness of
the migrant in both cultures will determine their overall commitment to a transnational identity.
23
Aztlan Chicano Student Movement: A group that grew out of the Chicano rights movement of the late 1960s and
is committed to the community, connection to culture and history of Mexican-Americans, and to aiding students in
their educational progress.
94
PART FOUR - SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
This thesis has combined the results of a general secondary data analysis of a large dataset
collected for over ten years with a more qualitative study of individual Mexican migrants in a
particular receiving locale. The intent of this triangulation of methods was to show a more
The statistical analyses established patterns of migration flows as they relate to social and
economic ties in both countries. The results indicated that strong economic and social ties to the
United States, in the absence of strong ties to the homeland, increased the odds for long-term legal
status and overall duration of stay, indicative of a propensity for settlement. Conclusions regarding
the results of the strength of homeland ties were less certain as few variables were found to be
representative of economic and social ties to Mexico. However, the results did indicate that
obligation to individuals left in the homeland (as measured by remittance) combined with strong
economic or familial ties in the United States did increase the rate of circulation between countries.
Nevertheless, it was determined that these results may have been true for the period in which the
data was collected, but may not hold true as today’s border enforcement has increased the potential
for long-term stay as the risks associated with border crossing have increased the relative cost of
circulation. Clearly though, social and economic ties were shown to be statistically significant in
The local interviews provided abundant material on the nature of the migration process for
particular Mexican migrants and insight into the relative power of social, family, economic and
symbolic ties as they relate to the migrant’s decision to settle, circulate, or eventually return migrate.
96
Migrants, though found to have differing social and economic ties to the United States and having
come here for various reasons, were all found to have some connection to the receiving context.
Similarly, even those migrants who had the strongest bonds to the United States were found to have
symbolic ties to the homeland. As predicted, migrants having strong ties to both homeland and the
host country were involved in various transnational fields including transnational kinship groups,
communities are most important for the production of new or blended culture and require strong
symbolic ties to the homeland. It is in this space that a genuine sense of transnational identity
These findings are, however, preliminary and tentative as the non-representative snowball
sample is quite small and limited to one geographic area. As a result, the nature of those migrants
who have few social ties is unknown, as they are not reflected in the sample design. Similarly,
comparison between receiving contexts would be beneficial as this research only reflects migrants to
the Phoenix area. By repeating this study, preferably with a greater sample size, in various urban and
rural locations throughout the United States, the effects of receiving context on acculturation,
isolation and development of a transnational identity may be gauged. Additional investigation into
participation of migrants in more formal social groups may also produce more information on the
Though in need of further testing, this study does indicate a strong relationship between the
strength of ties and transnational fields. By establishing the role of transnational ties in the migration
process, this thesis has demonstrated the importance of familial, social and economic bonds in
determining the migration trajectory of an individual. More importantly findings have supported the
premise that strong symbolic ties to both the United States and Mexico, especially when combined
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97
with other strong ties, creates a social milieu in which a community may from a transnational
identity.
97
98
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APPENDIX A - TEXT OF FLYER
Soy sociologo de la Universidad de la Universidad del Estado de Arizona (ASU). Hago estudios
sobre la migracion Mecicano a los Estados Unidos. Busco sujetos para participar en algunas
entrevistas para este estudio. Las entrevistas durarán alrededor de una hora y forman una parte de mi
proyecto de tesis. Toda la informacion acerca los sujetos sera privada y no se utilizará para
identificación. Si Ud. O alguien que le conconce es de Mexico y le gustaría participar en este estudio,
Gracias:
Stephen
104
APPENDIX B - VERBAL CONSENT SCRIPT
Esta entrevista, que durará aproximadamente entre una hora y una hora y media, sera
grabada. Las cintas solo se usarán mientras dure el estudio y serán destruídas al terminarse
Es possible que los resultados de la investigación sean publicados, pero no usaré su nombre.
Para proteger su privacidad, Ud. Pueda seleccionar un seudónimo que yo usaré en mis notas y
publicaciónes. No hare referencia al lugar, nombre del grupo u organización a que pertenece, y los
publicaciones.
Si tiene alguna pregunta sobre este investigación, pueda llamar a mi (Stephen Sills) al
104
105
APPENDIX C - QUESTIONNAIRE
105
1. Nombre que quiere usar por el estudio? 39. Describe la experiencia (la segunda
2. Cual es su sexo? vez):
3. Cual es su fecha de nacimiento? 40. Como consiguio documento - la
4. Ciudad donde nacio segunda vez?
5. Estado de nacimiento 41. En base a?
6. Pais donde nacio 42. Occupacion - la segunda vez?
7. Estado civil 43. Salario por hora - la segunda vez?
8. Education (años) 44. Duracion del viaje - la segunda vez?
9. Direccion permanente/direccion ahora 45. Cruces intentados sin lograr pasar - la
- Ciudad segunda vez?
10. Direccion permanente/direccion ahora 46. Le deportartaron?
- Estado 47. Describe la experiencia:
11. Documentacion 48. Destino principal - la tercera vez?
12. Cuando vino al EEUU la primera vez 49. Como llego (modo de transportacion)
(año)? la tercera vez?
13. Cuantas veces ha viajado a los EEUU 50. Documentacion - la tercera vez?
(total)? 51. Con quien cruzo - la tercera vez?
14. Destino principal - la primera vez? 52. Paso con coyote - la tercera vez?
15. Como llego (modo de transportacion) 53. Cuanto pago al coyote - la tercera vez?
la primera vez? 54. Quien pago - la tercera vez?
16. Documentacion - la primera vez? 55. Por donde entro - la tercera vez?
17. Paso con coyote - la primera vez? 56. Describe la experiencia (la tercera vez):
18. Cuanto pago al coyote - la primera vez? 57. Como consiguio documento - la tercera
19. Quien pago - la primera vez? vez?
20. Con quien mas cruzo - la primera vez? 58. Occupacion - la tercera vez?
21. Por donde entro - la primera vez? 59. Salario por hora - la tercera vez?
22. Describe la experiencia (la primera 60. Duracion del viaje - la tercera vez?
vez): 61. Cruces intentados sin lograr pasar - la
23. Como consiguio documento - la tercera vez?
primera vez? 62. Le deportartaron?
24. En base a? 63. Describe la experiencia:
25. Occupacion - la primera vez? 64. Destino principal - la cuarta vez?
26. Salario por hora - la primera vez? 65. Como llego (modo de transportacion)
27. Duracion del viaje - la primera vez? la cuarta vez?
28. Cruces intentados sin lograr pasar - la 66. Documentacion - la cuarta vez?
primera vez? 67. Con quien cruzo - la cuarta vez?
29. Le deportartaron? 68. Paso con coyote - la cuarta vez?
30. Describe la experiencia: 69. Cuanto pago al coyote - la cuarta vez?
31. Destino principal - la segunda vez? 70. Quien pago - la cuarta vez?
32. Como llego (modo de transportacion) 71. Por donde entro - la cuarta vez?
la segunda vez? 72. Occupacion - la cuarta vez?
33. Documentacion - la segunda vez? 73. Salario por hora - la cuarta vez?
34. Con quien cruzo - la segunda vez? 74. Duracion del viaje - la cuarta vez?
35. Paso con coyote - la segunda vez? 75. Cruces intentados sin lograr pasar - la
36. Cuanto pago al coyote - la segunda cuarta vez?
vez? 76. Le deportartaron?
37. Quien pago - la segunda vez? 77. Destino principal - la quinta vez?
38. Por donde entro - la segunda vez?
107
78. Como llego (modo de transportacion) 117. Le descuentan impuestos federales?
la quinta vez? 118. Cual es la raza o etnicidad del dueño
79. Documentacion - la quinta vez? del trabajo?
80. Con quien cruzo - la quinta vez? 119. Cual es la raza o etnicidad de su
81. Paso con coyote - la quinta vez? supervisor?
82. Cuanto pago al coyote - la quinta vez? 120. Cuanto gasta al mes en renta?
83. Por donde entro - la quinta vez? 121. Cuanto gasta al mes en alimentos?
84. Occupacion - la quinta vez? 122. Cuanto ahorra al mes?
85. Salario por hora - la quinta vez? 123. En que piensa va a gastar ese dinero?
86. Duracion del viaje - la quinta vez? 124. Tiene carro?
87. Cruces intentados sin lograr pasar - la 125. Cuanto le costo?
quinta vez? 126. Cuanto le gasta seminal por petroleo y
88. Le deportartaron? para mantenerlo?
89. Destino principal - la ultima vez? 127. Cuanto les manda al mes a los padres,
90. Como llego (modo de transportacion) parientes o familiares en Mexico?
la ultima vez? 128. Tiene Ud. cuenta bancaria en los
91. Documentacion - la ultima vez? EEUU?
92. Con quien cruzo - la ultima vez? 129. Desde cuando?
93. Paso con coyote - la ultima vez? 130. Tiene Ud. tarjeta de credito de los
94. Cuanto pago al coyote - la ultima vez? EEUU?
95. Quien pago - la ultima vez? 131. Desde cuando?
96. Quien pago - la ultima vez? 132. Donde viven sus padres?
97. Por donde entro - la ultima vez? 133. Donde viven sus abuelos?
98. Describe la experiencia (la ultima vez): 134. Cuantos Hermanos tiene?
99. Como consiguio documento - la ultima 135. Donde vive hermano(a) #1?
vez? 136. Donde vive hermano(a) #2?
100. En base a? 137. Donde vive hermano(a) #3?
101. Occupacion - la ultima vez? 138. Donde vive hermano(a) #4?
102. Salario por hora - la ultima vez? 139. Donde vive hermano(a) #5?
103. Duracion del viaje - la ultima vez? 140. Donde vive hermano(a) #6?
104. Cruces intentados sin lograr pasar - la 141. Donde vive hermano(a) #7?
ultima vez? 142. Donde vive hermano(a) #8?
105. Le deportartaron? 143. Donde vive hermano(a) #9?
106. Describe la experiencia: 144. Donde vive hermano(a) #10?
107. Cual es su occupacion principal? 145. Donde vive la mayoria de los tios(as)?
108. Tiene otro trabojo? 146. Donde viven la mayoria de los
109. Cual es su trabajo secundario? primos(as)?
110. Como obtuvo su empleo? 147. Viven algunas parientes en otras
111. Cuanto le pagan por hora (trabajo ciudades de los EEUU?
principal)? 148. Quienes son y en cuales ciudades?
112. Cuantas horas la semana trabaja (total)? 149. Con quien vive ahora?
113. Cuanto le gana mensual (total)? 150. Cuantas personas viven en su hogar?
114. Cuantas meses al ano? 151. De ellos quienes son relaciones suyos y
115. Le pagan por cheque o con efectivo? de que relaccion?
116. Le descuentan seguridad social?
107
108
152. Cuantos anos tiene el residente mas 187. Cuantas veces la semana habla por
mayor en su hogar? telefono con el/ella (#2)?
153. Cuantos anos tiene el residente mas 188. Cuantas veces la semana habla por
menor en su hogar? telefono con el/ella (#3)?
154. Tiene hijos? 189. Si viven en Mexico o otro ciudad,
155. Cuantos hijos tiene? cauantas veces al mes les escribe?
156. Cual es el edad de hijo #1? 190. Tiene otros amigos (no incluye los 3
157. Cual es el edad de hijo #2? mejores amigos) que viven en otras
158. Cual es el edad de hijo #3? ciudades de los EEUU?
159. Cual es el edad de hijo #4? 191. Cuales ciudades?
160. Cual es el edad de hijo #5? 192. Pertenece a algunas asociaciones
161. Cual es el edad de hijo #6? sociales?
162. Cual es el edad de hijo #7? 193. Cuantos grupos?
163. Cual es el sexo de hijo #1? 194. Cual es el nombre (#1)?
164. Cual es el sexo de hijo #2? 195. De donde son los miembros de este
165. Cual es el sexo de hijo #3? club o grupo (#1)?
166. Cual es el sexo de hijo #4? 196. Es un grupo formal o informal (#1)?
167. Cual es el sexo de hijo #5? 197. Que hace este grupo (#1)?
168. Cual es el sexo de hijo #6? 198. Juaga Ud. un deporte?
169. Cual es el sexo de hijo #7? 199. Cual deporte?
170. Donde viven los hijos? 200. Juega por un equipo?
171. Con quien viven los hijos en Mexico? 201. De donde son los miembros del
172. Los hijos asisten la escuela en los equipo?
EEUU? 202. Contra quien juegan?
173. Estan otros parientes (padres, tios, 203. Que tipo de relacion tiene con
primos,etc.) quien vive en Phoenix? Chicanos?
174. Le acompañaron en su viaje? 204. Describe los problemas que tiene:
175. Estan otros paisanos (del mismo 205. Que tipo de relacion tiene con
pueblo/ciudad/etc) quien viven aqui Mexicanos?
en Phoenix? 206. Que tipo de relacion tiene con otros
176. Le acompanaron en el viaje? Latinos?
177. De donde viene su #1 mejor amigo? 207. Que tipo de relacion tiene con Anlgos
178. Donde vive el/ella ahora? (Gringos)?
179. Con que frequencia reune con el #1 208. Que tipo de relacion tiene con Negros?
mejor amigo(a)? 209. Describe los problemas que tiene:
180. De donde viene su #2 mejor amigo? 210. Que tipo de relacion tiene con
181. Donde vive el/ella ahora (#2)? Asiaticos?
182. Con que frequencia reune con el #2 211. Habla Ud. Ingles?
mejor amigo(a)? 212. Cual idioma habla mas en casa?
183. De donde viene su #3 mejor amigo? 213. Cual idioma habla mas al
184. Donde vive el/ella ahora (#3)? trabajo/escuela?
185. Con que frequencia reune con el #3 214. Cual Idioma habla con los vecinos?
mejor amigo(a)? 215. Cual idioma habla con la mayoria de
186. Cuantas veces la semana habla por los amigos o familiars?
telefono con el/ella (#1)?
108
109
216. Cual idioma habla con 248. Piensa Ud. que esta viviendo con
esposa(o)/novia(o)? las patas en dos mundos?
217. Le gusta escuchar musica? 249. Describelo:
218. Cuales grupos/cantantes son sus 250. Piensa volver algun dia a su tierra
preferidos? nativa?
219. Escucha la radio? 251. Cuando? Como?
220. Cual canal? 252. Ya estamamos terminados con la
221. Que tipo de programas le gusta entrevista, a algo que quire añadir o
escuchar? cambiar?
222. Le gusta ver la television?
223. Cual es su canal preferida?
224. Cuales son sus programas preferidas?
225. Le gusta bailar?
226. Donde baila?
227. Que clase de baile?
228. Le gusta ver las peliculas?
229. Cuales son sus peliculas preferidas?
230. Cual es su actor/actriz favorito/a?
231. Cuales son su pasatiempos (no
mencionadas antes)?
232. Le gusta cocinar?
233. Cual es su comida preferida?
234. Cuando salga para cenar a cuales
restaurants vaya?
235. Por cuales occaciones reune con sus
amigos y familiars
236. Con que frequencia llama al Mexico?
237. Cuando llama como paga?
238. A quien llama?
239. Con que frequencia escribe cartas o
postales al Mexico?
240. A quien escribe?
241. Usa el Internet?
242. Usa para escribir cartas electronicas a
amigos/familia en Mexico?
243. Como mas lo usa?
244. Que quiere decir el patriotismo para
Ud?
245. Que es identidad nacional?
246. Como es para ser Mexicano mientras
vivir en los EEUU? Describelo.
247. Describe su connecion emocional a su
tierra nativa (pueblo, ciudad, estado,
pais
109
APPENDIX D - US AND MEXICO NETWORK TIES
12 23 18
14 5 26
9 1 10 16 17
Key
19 US Marriage
4 11
US Family Tie
13 22
US Social Tie
8
Mex Marriage
24
2 Mex Family Tie
3 6 21
7 15
Key
US Marriage
US Family Tie
US Social Tie
Mex Marriage
111
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