The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (Cemla) has specialized in the study and measurement of remittances in the region. Derived from these investigations, a final document prepared by expert Jesús Cervantes focuses on documenting the profile of the Latin American immigrant population in the United States. This document reveals a very rich accumulation of statistics about the characteristics of Mexican immigration to its northern neighbor. Given the threat of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, it is convenient to cite some interesting figures from Cervantes’ work. Some have a deadline of 2022 and others of 2023.
The migrant population in the United States from Mexico in 2023 was 10.9 million people, which is by far the largest group among the 15 Latin American migratory groups. But between 2015 and 2023, Mexico was the only migratory group that showed a contraction (6.2%). However, in 2023 there were significant increases in the number of new migrants originating from our country (185,487 people), far above other large groups such as Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia.
Considering a comparison of the age structure in 2023 of the immigrant population originating from Latin American countries, Mexico stands out as the migratory group with the highest percentage aged 18 to 65 years (83.1%) and the one with the lowest presence of minors (3.7%).
According to estimates from the United States Department of Homeland Security, in 2022 there were a total of 11 million undocumented immigrants in that country, of which 69.3% (7.6 million) were from seven Latin American countries. Undocumented Mexicans were 4.8 million, which corresponded to 45% of the total of 10.7 million immigrants from Mexico, again, the largest group of undocumented immigrants among the 15 Latin American countries. It is interesting that of the total number of Mexican immigrants cited, 35.2% have US citizenship and 19.8% are documented residents without citizenship (3.8 million and 2.1 million people, respectively). So the universe of undocumented Mexicans susceptible to deportation is around 5 million, the majority being found in California and Texas, concentrated in construction and the manufacturing sector.
Trump’s intention to deport “millions” is more rhetoric than reality, simply because of the logistical and budgetary problem that this would imply. Their strategy is the construction of a huge detention center in Texas, where the first step is to investigate undocumented immigrants and deport those with a criminal record. But the challenge is to respect human rights.
It is known that Mexican migrants have high productivity and add value to that economy. Therefore, a functional immigration law is required by Congress to regulate immigration flows. Mexico must negotiate that only Mexicans be deported and that those of other nationalities be returned to their country of origin. On the part of the Mexican government, there is still no sign of an expert team that has the experience and ability to conduct negotiations on this issue.
