Total population | |
---|---|
899,311 United States-born residents of Mexico (2017) [1] 1,359 Puerto Rico-born residents of Mexico (2017) [1] Unknown number of Mexicans of American descentContents | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana, Mérida, Cancún, Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende, Puebla, Cuernavaca, San Luis Potosí, Mazatlán, Saltillo, Mexicali, Ciudad Juárez, Rosarito, Ensenada and rural regions and towns of Baja California Sur, Guanajuato, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Quintana Roo, State of Mexico, Sonora, Zacatecas, Chiapas and Tamaulipas | |
Languages | |
Mexican Spanish, American English | |
Religion | |
Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, minority of Judaism and Irreligion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Americans and American diaspora |
American Mexicans (Spanish : estadounidense-mexicanos) are Mexicans of full or partial Americans heritage, who are either born in, or descended from migrants from the United States and its territories.
Americans are a significant demographic group in Mexico. As of 2020, over 65% of immigrants to Mexico are from the United States, [2] and Mexico hosts the largest number of US emigrants. Many members of the American Mexican community have dual nationality, and among them are entrepreneurs, businessmen, sports professionals, entertainers, artists, religious ministers, academics, and students.
The first settlers in Mexico from the United States were traders and fur trappers. This included settlements in the northern territories of Alta California, Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Mexican Texas. The first empresarial grant in Texas had been made under Spanish control to Stephen F. Austin, whose settlers, known as the Old Three Hundred, settled along the Brazos River in 1822. The grant was later ratified by the Mexican government. Twenty-three other empresarios brought settlers to the state, the majority from the United States. In 1824, Mexico enacted the General Colonization Law, which enabled all heads of household, regardless of race or immigrant status, to claim land in Mexico. Due to a large number of unassimilated American settlers and imported slaves, President Anastasio Bustamante outlawed further immigration of United States citizens to Texas through the Law of April 6, 1830, nonetheless immigration continued illegally.
Mexico once recognized citizens born in the territory lost in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to protect their property, farms, and ranches. However, they had to adopt a new nationality and very few descendants had ever decided to regain their Mexican nationality.
Facing the threat of enslavement, in 1850 the Black Seminole leader John Horse and about 180 Black Seminoles staged a mass escape to northern Mexico, where slavery had been abolished more than twenty years earlier. There is a band of the Kickapoo tribe present in northern Mexico as result of 19th-century migration. There is also a Cherokee Nation of Mexico that claims to be the descendants of 19th-century Cherokee migrants. However, they are not officially recognized by the Federal government.
A few of the routes of the Underground Railroad led to Mexico. [3] An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 slaves escaped to Mexico. [4]
In 1865 a substantial number of former Confederates fled to Mexico from the defeated Confederate States of America. [5] [6] [7] They set up the New Virginia Colony. However, many of the ex-Confederates left the country once Emperor Maximilian I was overthrown.
During the Porfiriato, foreign businessmen were welcomed into the country in order to help with Mexico's modernization through enterprises such as railroad construction and mineral exploitation. American capitalists included the likes of Edward L. Doheny and William Cornell Greene. Also notable among these early entrepreneurs were the Californian immigrants Walter and Frank Sanborn, who opened Mexico's first soda fountain. Their business would go on to become the Grupo Sanborns.
Founded in 1888, the American School Foundation in Mexico City was created to cater to the American immigrants of the city.
In an attempt to settle and industrialize rural areas, particularly the sparsely populated northern states, the Porfirian government encouraged organized settlements by Mexicans and foreigners. American endeavors included Los Mochis in Sinaloa, originally a utopian colony; Colonia Chamal in Tamaulipas, mostly farmers from Oklahoma; [8] and Colonia Díaz in Chihuahua, the first Mormon colony.
A notable example of a businessman founding an American immigrant colony is William H. Ellis. He established a worker settlement in Tlahualilo, Durango for black Americans seeking to escape the Jim Crow South, however the settlement failed and most settlers returned to the United States.
A prominent Mexican of U.S. ancestry is former president Vicente Fox, whose paternal grandfather, Joseph Louis Fox, [9] was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and emigrated to Mexico in 1897.
For decades, Mexico has also drawn numerous artists, including painter Pablo O'Higgins, who participated in Mexico's muralism movement, silversmith William Spratling, who helped revitalize the silver industry in Taxco, and dancer Waldeen Falkenstein, who was influential in the teaching of modern Mexican dance. Opening in 1950, the Instituto Allende drew American art students to San Miguel de Allende and helped make the town an important destination for American emigrants.
During the Cold War, Mexico was a country of refuge for political leftists, and received various American exiles, notably from the film industry. An example was Elizabeth Catlett, prominent African-American artist who was declared an "undesirable alien" by the US government as a result of suspected Communist affiliations.
Recent migrants can be categorized into three broad categories: retired individuals (which tend to congregate in American enclaves like Ajijic or San Miguel de Allende), professionals working in Mexico (tending to reside in large cities like Monterrey or Mexico City) and the American children of Mexican nationals (who can be found throughout the country). Most commonly, these American-born minors follow their parents once they are deported to Mexico. Nonetheless, it is also common for adult children to return to their parents home country of their own will.
From 2014 to 2016, 23,613 Americans received permanent residency, with a total of 72,140 Americans receiving temporary or permanent residency permits. [10] About 600,000 US-born children live in Mexico. [11] According to 2015 data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), more than 280,000 children born in the US and now living in Mexico, do not have sufficient documentation to prove their Mexican identity. [12]
In the 2020s, Americans taking advantage of remote work programs have contributed to the gentrification of Mexico City. [13]
In November 2022, the U.S. Social Security Administration paid more than 62,000 individuals in Mexico, the third largest group of beneficiaries after those in Canada and Japan. [14]
American Mexicans retain customs such as Thanksgiving Day and the Independence Day of the United States celebrated on July 4. [15]
American football arrived to Mexico in 1927, by direct influence of the United States. [16] It started to be played in Mexico City among young students from universities, and sport clubs showing a great interest for this foreign sport of considerable popularity among American students. Throughout the years, the sport became popular at an amateur level among universities of Mexico. [16] The sport has remained popular as a result of easier access to televised MLB and NFL games and the desire of American Mexicans to partake in American pastimes.
Recent migrants, especially those in the retired community, remain closely attached to and promote the values of the United States through organizations such as Democrats and Republicans Abroad, the American Legion, and the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. [17] Also common among this group is the lobbying of local governments on a range of issues such as development, security, sanitation and historical preservation. [17] This may be problematic if they are not naturalized citizens, since the Mexican Constitution prohibits the involvement of foreigners in the country's politics. [17]
Most Mexicans of American descent speak American English and Mexican Spanish, either of which can be that person's first language. However, not all in the community are proficient in both languages. Among migrants it is not uncommon to find people lacking proficiency in Spanish even after years of living in the country. [17] This can be attributed to the relative isolation of American enclaves and the willingness of Mexicans whom they interact with to adjust to English requirements. [17]
Most Mexicans of American descent are Christians, either Catholic, Protestant or Mormon (including both Latter-day Saints and various breakaway sects).
According to the 2010 census, 314,932 individuals reported belonging to the Latter-day Saints Church. [18] However the majority of Latter-day Saints in Mexico are ethnic Mexicans. Many Mexican Mormons of American descent reside in the Mormon colonies in Mexico, where some American Mormons settled in the late 19th century. Some of these American Mexicans or their descendants have returned to the United States since, including church leader Marion G. Romney, politician George W. Romney, and chemist Henry Eyring. More recent prominent Mexican Mormons of American descent include Carl B. Pratt, the current president of the LDS Church's Missionary Training Center in Mexico City and a former General Authority of the church. [19] The current president of the LDS Church's Mexico Area, Daniel L. Johnson is also a Mexican of American descent, although his two counselors are both ethnic Mexicans. [20]
There has been a small migration of American Jews into Mexico. [21] American-born Jews established the Beth Israel Community Center in 1957, [22] the first English-speaking congregation in Mexico and one of the first Conservative synagogues in Latin America. [23] It was established due to cultural differences with the existing Ashkenazi and Sephardic derived Mexican Jewish community.
There are the following American international schools in Mexico:
Mexico City:
Other cities:
Venezuela is a country in South America. The Venezuelan people comprise a combination of heritages, primarily Native American and European. The historically present Native American, Spanish colonists, and African slaves have all contributed to varying degrees. Later, waves of European groups migrated to Venezuela in the 20th century, influencing many aspects of Venezuelan life, including its culture, language, food, and music though small in number.
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican heritage. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United States. Mexicans born outside the US make up 53% of the total population of foreign-born Hispanic Americans and 25% of the total foreign-born population. Chicano is a term used by some to describe the unique identity held by Mexican-Americans. The United States is home to the second-largest Mexican community in the world, behind only Mexico.
Confederados is the Brazilian name for Confederate expatriates, all white Southerners, who fled the Southern United States during Reconstruction, and their Brazilian descendants. They were enticed to Brazil by offers of cheap land from Emperor Dom Pedro II, who had hoped to gain expertise in cotton farming. The regime in Brazil had a number of features that attracted the Confederados, among these political decentralization, and a relatively high commitment to free trade. The continuing legality of slavery was another factor, though few Confederados actually acquired slaves in Brazil.
Filipinos are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today are predominantly Catholic and come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Tagalog, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to Spanish colonialism, only around 2–4% of Filipinos are fluent in Spanish. Currently, there are more than 185 ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines each with its own language, identity, culture, tradition, and history.
The Mormon corridor are the areas of western North America that were settled between 1850 and approximately 1890 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who are commonly called "Mormons".
The Mormon colonies in Mexico are settlements located near the Sierra Madre mountains in northern Mexico which were established by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints beginning in 1885. The colonists came to Mexico due to federal attempts to curb and prosecute polygamy in the United States. Plural marriage, as polygamous relationships were called by church members, was an important tenet of the church—although it was never practiced by a majority of the membership.
German Mexicans are Mexican citizens of German origin. Most documented ethnic Germans arrived in Mexico during the mid-to-late 19th century and were spurred by government policies of Porfirio Díaz. Many of them took advantage of the liberal policies in Mexico at the time and went into merchant, industrial, and educational ventures. However, others arrived without any or much capital as employees or farmers. Most settled in Mexico City and the surrounding states of Puebla and Veracruz as well as the northern states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Jalisco, and Chihuahua. Later settlers headed south towards the Yucatán Peninsula. Significant numbers of German immigrants also arrived during and after both World Wars. The historic strength of German-Mexican relations has contributed to Mexico having the fourth largest German population in all Latin America behind Brazil, Argentina and Chile.
Immigration to Mexico has been important in shaping the country's demographics. Since the early 16th century, with the arrival of the Spanish, Mexico has received immigrants from Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Today, millions of their descendants still live in Mexico and can be found working in different professions and industries.
Honduran Americans are Americans of full or partial Honduran descent. Hondurans are the eighth largest Hispanic group in the United States and the third largest Central American population, after Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Hondurans are concentrated in Texas, Florida and California, and are now the largest immigrant group in Louisiana.
Venezuelan Americans are Americans who trace their heritage, or part of their heritage, to the nation of Venezuela. The word may refer to someone born in the U.S. of Venezuelan descent or to someone who has immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela.
The history of immigration to the United States details the movement of people to the United States from the colonial era to the present day. Throughout U.S. history, the country experienced successive waves of immigration, particularly from Europe and later on from Asia and Latin America. Colonial-era immigrants often repaid the cost of transoceanic transportation by becoming indentured servants in which the new employer paid the ship's captain. In the late 19th century, immigration from China and Japan was restricted. In the 1920s, restrictive immigration quotas were imposed but political refugees had special status. Numerical restrictions ended in 1965. In recent years, the largest numbers of immigrants to the United States have come from Asia and Central America.
Uruguayan Americans are Americans of Uruguayan ancestry or birth. The American Community Survey of 2006 estimated the Uruguayan American population to number 50,538, a figure that notably increased a decade later.
An American Brazilian is a Brazilian person who is of full, partial or predominant American descent or a U.S.-born immigrant in Brazil.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had a presence in Mexico since 1874. Mexico has the largest body of LDS Church members outside of the United States. Membership grew nearly 15% between 2011 and 2021. In the 2010 Mexican census, 314,932 individuals self-identified most closely to the LDS Church.
The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain.
Illegal immigration in Mexico has occurred at various times throughout history, especially in the 1830s and since the 1970s. The largest source of illegal immigrants in Mexico are the impoverished Central American countries of Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and El Salvador and African countries like Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria. The largest single group of illegal immigrants in Mexico is from the United States.
Costa Ricans are the citizens of Costa Rica, a multiethnic, Spanish-speaking nation in Central America. Costa Ricans are predominantly Mestizos, other ethnic groups people of Indigenous, European, African, and Asian descent.
Colonia Díaz was the first permanent Mormon colony in Mexico, located along the Casas Grandes River in the northwest of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. It is now a ghost town bordered on the east by the Sierra Madre Occidental. It was the nearest colony to the Mexico–United States border. By 1900, Díaz had grown to 623 inhabitants. In 1912, during the Mexican Revolution, Colonia Díaz was intentionally burned and destroyed. Other neighboring colonies were established after Colonia Díaz in the late 19th century, of which only Colonia Dublán, sixty miles south of Colonia Díaz, and Colonia Juárez, 18 miles southeast of Colonia Dublán, are still inhabited.
The state of Utah has an increasingly diverse population, home to hundreds of thousands of Hispanic/Latino people who share ancestry from Latin American countries. It is estimated that there are roughly 383,400 residents of Hispanic/Latino descent currently living in Utah.
Immigration to the Republic of Honduras is a complex demographic phenomenon that has been an important source of population growth and cultural change through the centuries throughout much of Honduran history. In the ten months to October 2022, about 120,000 migrants passed through Honduras, most of them being irregular.
De estos, el 65,8% tenían nacionalidad estadounidense...
Researchers estimate 5,000 to 10,000 people escaped from bondage into Mexico, says Maria Hammack...