By Veronica Martinez and Raul Flores / La Verdad Juárez
Translation: El Paso Matters
Ciudad Juárez– Hilda Sotelo was born in Mexico and became a naturalized citizen of the United States, giving her dual nationality.
“I am a cross-border person. I have lived in Juárez for years, I have family in Juárez and here in El Paso, too,” said the university faculty member and writer. “I know both languages, I have dual citizenship and lately I have been spending more time in the United States.”
Sotelo said she has crossed the border from El Paso to Ciudad Juárez to cast her vote in Mexico every election year since 2012.
This year, her dual citizenship status will allow her to vote in presidential elections in both countries – Sunday, June 2, in Mexico’s election and Tuesday, Nov. 5 in the United States.
Mexico’s federal election on Sunday features three candidates for president – including two women: Claudia Sheinbaum of the Let’s Keep Making History coalition (Regeneration Movement known as Morena party, Green party and Labor party); Xóchitl Gálvez of the Strength and Heart Coalition (PAN, PRI and PRD parties); and Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the Citizen Movement party. The election also includes races for senators, governors and mayors throughout the nation, including the Juárez mayoral seat.
On Nov. 5, U.S. voters will elect a president – selecting between Democrat incumbent Joe Biden and GOP candidate Donald Trump. Other races in the general election include U.S. and state senators and representatives; while El Paso ballots will include races for sheriff and district attorney.
Sotelo and thousands of others with dual nationality can influence the presidential elections on both sides of the border on everything from migration and immigration to economic development and foreign trade to safety and security.
Among them are siblings Alejandro Orquiz, 20, and Karime Orquiz, 23, who share the border dynamic of crossing the border regularly to visit family, study or work.
“It is very important that we as young people start thinking about politics because the elections that we will have now will shape the future that we will live in later, and I want us to have better opportunities,” Karime said.
Presidential elections in Mexico and the United States coincide every 12 years: Mexican elections are held every six years, while U.S. elections are held every four years.
With both countries holding presidential races this year, the electoral process is even more politicized, said Victor Alejandro Espinoza, political science researcher and president of Colegio de la Frontera Norte.
“Those who are interested in what happens in the United States election are the same ones who are going to be interested in what happens in the Mexican election,” Espinoza said.
“I think that interest will increase in some sectors because they are seeing that the relationship is important between both countries. For those in the United States or Mexico, the elections have an impact on life in both countries,” he added.
Espinoza said that there is little data on this population with dual nationality and it is still difficult to define its size and political impact. But, he said, it’s comparable to the Mexican population that votes from abroad.
Dual nationality comes with double privilege but also creates double responsibility, he said.
“I am of the idea that democracies are made by exercising the vote. Politics is part of our daily lives and the citizens of both countries depend on all these decisions,” said Sotelo, who has been involved in political movements of Mexican parties in El Paso.
Dual nationality, two votes
Mexicans have been allowed to have more than one nationality since 1998 under the Mexican Nationality Law.
Dual nationality along border communities is very high, Espinoza said, adding that some people have acquired it through the naturalization process or by being born in the United States and having at least one parent of Mexican nationality.
The U.S. Census reports that, in 2022, about 24.4 million people were born abroad and had citizenship through the naturalization process. Although these figures are not divided by nationality, it’s estimated that 44% are of Hispanic or Latino origin.
In Mexico, figures from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics, or INEGI, indicate that the majority of people residing in Mexico born in another country are from the United States. Baja California is the state with the most residents born in the United States followed by Chihuahua.
The government of Chihuahua reported that the Civil Registry Office issued more than 50,000 dual nationality certificates through the “I am Mexico” program from 2016 through 2021. In 2023, more than 15,000 certificates were issued.
Espinoza and other political science researchers consider that the dual U.S.-Mexico citizenship population is similar and comparable to that of Mexicans who vote from abroad.
“Mexicans of dual nationality who vote in the United States are the ones who also vote in the Mexican election. There is a degree of knowledge and conviction to participate in both elections,” he said.
However, the political impact that these populations — Mexicans with dual nationality and those who vote from abroad — can have is considerably small.
The National Electoral Institute, or INE, reported that the electoral roll in the 2023-’24 voting year exceeded 100 million registered citizens. Figures from the Ministry of the Interior and the SRE indicate that this year, slightly more than 227,000 Mexicans living abroad have the right to vote.
Living, working on the border
The connection between Mexico and the United States is evident with residents living their daily lives on both sides of the border. Some cross daily to go to school, shop or work, and others visit family on weekends.
This has been Sotelo’s life for more than five decades.
Her grandfather and father were part of the Bracero program. She was born in Mexico, and completed her naturalization process into the United States. in the 1990s. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Juárez but continued her graduate studies in El Paso.
She now works at the University of Texas at El Paso but is involved in the Juárez community, cultural and political activities.
Levi Pereda, who was born in El Paso, has a similar journey. Whenever he is asked where he is from, he says Juárez. He grew up there most of his life, and began working in El Paso when he was in high school. He began his university studies in Texas, and completed his master’s degree. He lived in Houston for eight years before moving back to El Paso two years ago.
He works a remote job, so his lifestyle allows him to easily divide his time between both cities.
Pereda said he feels emotionally identified with his Mexican nationality, but said he places importance on his U.S. side since that’s where he derives his family’s financial support.
“I think that my economic stability is more linked to the United States elections, but in terms of importance, I think I give the same value to both,” he said.
Alejandro Orquiz is a psychology student at a Juárez university but works in the restaurant industry in the United States. on weekends.
This year marked the first time the 20-year-old voted in an election in Mexico.
His sister, Karime, 23, who studies and works in the United States and returns to Juárez on weekends, voted in presidential elections in Mexico in 2018 and in the United States in 2020.
This is the first time she’ll be able to vote in two presidential elections the same year.
“Living in both countries, either mandate affects me,” she says.
Daniel Ordoñez was born in El Paso, but grew up in Mexico and identifies as Mexican. He lived for two years in Kingsville, Texas, and has now been living in his hometown for two years – crossing into Juárez occasionally to visit friends or for doctor’s appointments.
He describes his relationship with both countries as “neither black nor white” – there are things you like and don’t like about both, he said. Still, he says he feels the Mexican election carries more impact to him because his family and his wife’s family live in Ciudad Juárez.
Voter impact in U.S. vs. Mexico
Karime says that, in 2018, her vote in Mexico was based more on the information she received from her family. For these elections he thinks he should do more research on the candidates and choose based on what seems “most sensible” to her. She describes her political leanings as “somewhat liberal” in both countries.
Her brother Alejandro said he is only considering voting in the Mexican elections this year, because for him American politics seems “alien.”
“I feel that what happens in Mexico affects me more directly than what happens in the United States,” he said. “I believe that exercising the right to vote is essential in social terms, but not knowing what American politics is, I prefer to abstain.”
For Alejandro, the electoral college system in the United States seems intimidating and confusing to understand.
“Completely different worlds,” he said. “In the United States, you vote for a person who will watch over and vote for your interests (under the electoral college). Here (in Mexico) is your raw vote. You vote for a candidate and that’s your vote.”
Sotelo also considers that the electoral process in the United States is very complex compared with that of Mexico.
“El Paso has historically voted Democratic but it does not represent the ideals of the rest of the state, which is one of the most Republican,” she said.
“Right now I think that my vote is going to have more impact in the United States. I feel that in Mexico I participated in what I had to participate in and now it’s my turn here,” Sotelo said. “This country is in complete decline and it is the one that is giving me work. Maybe my participation in these elections in (the United States) will be more important.”
