Migration between Mexico and the United States is not an anomaly to be contained—it is a structural, historical, and cultural reality that must be acknowledged, dignified, and embraced
By José Mario Sánchez Soledad
For nearly two centuries, Mexico and the United States have built one of the most complex, dynamic, and influential bilateral relationships in the Americas. This relationship has consistently prioritized trade agreements, security, investment, and integrated production. However, it has never succeeded in articulating a comprehensive strategy for human mobility, let alone a vision for human and cultural complementarity between the two nations.
Human mobility has been treated as a collateral, problematic, or undesirable phenomenon, when in fact it is a natural consequence of geographic proximity and structural inequality between their economies. What began as a historical reality following the 1848 war intensified after World War II, was transformed under NAFTA, and today represents a missed opportunity for truly human regional integration.
I. Structural Origins: From 1848 to the Mexican Revolution
The migratory phenomenon between Mexico and the United States is neither recent nor incidental. It dates back to 1848, when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo resulted in the loss of more than half of Mexico’s territory and the creation of an artificial border that divided towns, cultures, and families. Since then, millions have lived north of the Río Bravo with deep roots to the south.
This mobility never ceased. During the expansion of the railroad and the agricultural boom in the U.S. Southwest, a constant demand for Mexican labor emerged—a trend that intensified after the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), forcing many to cross the border in search of safety, food, and work.
II. The Bracero Program: Temporary Formalization (1942–1964)
World War II marked a turning point. In 1942, the Bracero Program was signed, allowing the temporary entry of Mexican agricultural workers into the U.S. This program institutionalized what was already a structural phenomenon: labor migration as an unofficial axis of bilateral economic integration.
For over two decades, millions of Mexican workers legally crossed the border to support U.S. agriculture, railroads, and light industry. However, the program was deeply unequal: it lacked real protections, integration mechanisms, or cultural respect. It was functional—but never inclusive. When it ended in 1964, it left behind a legal vacuum that did not stop migration but pushed it into informality.
III. 1965–1993: Criminalization and Dependency
After the Bracero Program ended, the 1965 U.S. immigration reform shut legal pathways for Mexican laborers, even as their labor remained essential. Thus emerged a structural contradiction: the U.S. criminalized those it continued to employ.
Over the following decades, millions of Mexicans continued migrating to the U.S.—many undocumented—to sustain sectors such as construction, domestic work, food processing, and landscaping. They contributed to the economy but were marginalized in political discourse, made scapegoats in times of social crisis, and subjected to raids, deportations, and systemic discrimination.
IV. 1994: NAFTA and the Great Omission
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a watershed moment. While it deeply integrated the markets of Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, it entirely excluded the human dimension of that integration.
• No bilateral labor mechanisms were created.
• No provisions for seasonal or permanent migration were established.
• It was—mistakenly—assumed that free trade would eliminate migratory pressures.
The reality was quite the opposite: NAFTA generated migration by destroying millions of rural jobs in Mexico (e.g., in the corn sector), without offering real alternatives for employment or legal mobility. Irregular migration surged, and the gap between economic and human integration widened.
V. Neither Here nor There: The Suigeneris Identity of Migrants
Over time, Mexican communities in the U.S. have forged a hybrid, complex, and unique identity. They are workers, parents, community leaders, and cultural citizens. Many lack legal status, yet maintain a functional and emotional loyalty to the U.S.: they pay taxes, obey laws, and feel part of the country where they live.
At the same time, they preserve powerful cultural symbols of Mexico: the Virgin of Guadalupe, the national flag, patriotic holidays, and the Spanish language. But these symbols do not signify political allegiance to the Mexican state; rather, they represent cultural affirmation in the face of exclusion—a root that refuses to die.
These communities embody two worlds—but also live a fracture: they are not fully recognized as belonging in either country. They remain trapped in a permanent emotional and political border.
VI. Exclusion on Both Sides
In the United States:
• Millions live without legal status, labor protections, or citizenship.
• They are allowed to work, but not to belong.
• They are essential to the economy, yet politically expendable.
In Mexico:
• They are praised as “remittance heroes” but ignored in national decision-making.
• They lack dignified return programs.
• They are excluded from development plans and cultural diplomacy.
• They are viewed through a lens of assistance, not recognition.
VII. Toward a Strategy of Human Complementarity
The major unresolved task between Mexico and the U.S. is not a new wall or another diplomatic crisis. It is the creation of a shared human integration strategy—one that recognizes migrant communities as what they truly are: agents of development, culture, and cooperation between two intertwined nations.
Proposed Pillars:
1. Bilateral regularization with paths to citizenship.
2. Full labor rights protections regardless of status.
3. Cultural recognition of binational and bicultural identity.
4. Effective political representation of Mexicans abroad.
5. Consular reform focused on integration—not just protection.
6. Creation of a Binational Museum of Migration as a historical symbol.
Conclusion
Migration between Mexico and the United States is not an anomaly to be contained—it is a structural, historical, and cultural reality that must be acknowledged, dignified, and embraced.
What has long been framed as a “problem” could in fact become the foundation of an unprecedented civilizational alliance. For that to happen, we must stop viewing the migrant as a remittance figure or border threat—and start seeing them for what they truly are: the most human and strongest bridge between two nations that share history, economy, culture… and destiny.
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José Mario Sánchez Soledad, businessman and historian from Ciudad Juárez and national advisor to Coparmex.
