TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN

COMMUNITIES.

Stephen J. Sills
Department of Sociology
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-2101
Tel: 480-965-3546
Stephen.Sills@asu.edu
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Abstract

Migrants maintain social, economic and symbolic ties with the homeland while building networks that
bridge physical and social distances. This study, set in a major Southwestern city in the United States, is
an exploration the social, economic and symbolic ties of undocumented Mexican migrants to the
homeland and receiving context. This analysis combines quantitative and qualitative data from the
interviews in an effort to test the effects of social, economic, and symbolic ties to Mexico on the
measures of assimilation in this particular community. The study finds that there is a negative
relationship between the strength of Mexican social ties and the degree of assimilation in the US.
Strong economic ties were not found to necessarily limit the degree of assimilation, yet none of those
with strong economic ties to Mexico had a high degree of assimilation. The relation between
assimilation and symbolic ties remained unclear. Daily cultural practices of all the migrants interviewed
reflected cultural heritage and the pluralistic nature of the US. Those long-term residents who were
well integrated into American society moved between ethnic identities allowing the social environment
to determine the way in which they constructed ethnic identity. A model for future statistical analysis
in a broader population is proposed.

Key Words: Transnationalism; Social Ties; Assimilation; Mexican Migration

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Introduction
For many years now there has been an understanding that there are a variety of structural causes for

migration such as international wage differentials, relative stability of employment in destination

countries, relative deprivation in sending countries and historic linkages between sending and receiving

nations (Todaro and Maruszko 1987; Stark and Bloom 1985; Stark et al. 1986, 1988; Portes and

Walton 1981; Petras 1981; Sassen 1988; Massey et al. 1998) However, structural explanations are not

sufficient to explain the continued and growing global population movements of today.

Contemporary theories hold that migration is also caused by social forces factors such as family

reunification, persecution or other forms of maltreatment in sending countries, greater potential social

freedoms in receiving nations, and cultural ties between countries (Massey et al. 1998). Migrants, for

whatever reason, maintain social, economic and symbolic ties with the homeland and build networks

that bridge physical and social distances (Massey 1987; Massey et al.1993; Roberts, 1999). The resulting

social configurations have been collectively termed transnational social fields and, though not necessarily

new (Faist 2000; Portes 1999), they are considered one of the growing effects of globalization,

advancement in communications technologies, expansion of modern capitalistic markets into

peripheral nations, and continued migration to core nations (Evans 2000; Guarnizo and Smith 1998).

This study, set in a major Southwestern city in the United States, is an exploration of social,

economic and symbolic ties of undocumented Mexican migrants to the homeland and receiving

context. The investigation sets out to determine the extent to which economic and kinship ties in both

the receiving and sending communities influences integration into the receiving society. Through a

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series of interviews, there emerges an image of transnational kinship groups, transnational labor

circuits, and the formation of a transnational community in which migrants have varying levels of

social and economic ties to the homeland, as well as shared symbolic ties to the homeland and host

communities. The advantage of transnational ties for immigrant communities has been discussed in

the literature (Evans 2000; Faist 1996; Faist 2000b). Some researchers have argued that transnational

ties may in fact facilitate integration of immigrant populations by making available alternative sources

of human, social, and economic capital within the home country and by establishing a sense of shared

identity.

This paper examines social, economic, and symbolic ties within one small network of primarily

undocumented Mexican migrants as they relate to the individual migrant’s integration into the host

community. While the role of transnational ties in the overall integration of these migrants into the

host community is inconclusive, it is found that the most recent arrivals and those who have migrated

following a circular labor migration pattern logically have the strongest social and economic ties to

homeland and are the least integrated into and assimilated by the mainstream society. Other

individuals who had been in the US for longer periods showed greatest degree of ‘double

consciousness’ (Glick-Schiller and Fouron 1999) and a hybridization of host/ homeland cultural

practices and symbolic ties. Time spent in the destination country and age at migration appears to be

significant factors associated with integration and assimilation. Additionally, legal status may have an

important role to play as those who are most likely to be integrated were migrants who had obtained

either permanent resident or naturalized citizenship. Finally, as strong social and economic ties to the

homeland provide little in the way of additional resources, and in fact represent a drain on the

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migrants’ resources in the host community, it is observed that these ties do not promote integration

and assimilation in the destination country. Symbolic ties, on the other hand, do provide a strong

sense of common identity and shared heritage. Even among long-term residents, these ties to the idea

of a homeland community and daily cultural practices actually foster greater integration. Yet, as

sample size is quite limited, this study serves essentially to provide anecdotal evidence to the nature of

transnational ties and their role in assimilation.

Context of Mexican Migration in the United States

Most recent figures from the US Bureau of the Census indicate that Hispanics of Mexican origin

(both native and foreign-born combined) account for 59% of all Hispanics in the United States

(2001). These 20.6 million individuals of Mexican origin represents 7.3 % of the entire US

population and make up the bulk of the 57.9% increase in the Hispanic population between 1990

and 2000 (2001). According to estimates by the Population Projections Program at the US

Census Bureau, the Hispanic population is expected to grow to more than 43.6 million by 2010,

assuming midlevel immigration (2000). Recent Current Population Survey data shows that the

Hispanic population has many obstacles to full integration into the mainstream culture. Notably,

educational attainment, which has been defined as a marker of assimilation (Alba 1997; Clark

1998) is still quite low among Hispanics: 43.9% of Hispanics have less than a high school

education, compared to only 12.3% of non-Hispanic Whites (Therrien 2000). Hispanics are also

three times more likely to live below the poverty level than non-Hispanic Whites, while they

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participate in the labor force in equal proportions to non-Hispanic Whites.1 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

(Newburger 2000). Thus, integration and assimilation of Hispanic migrants is severely restricted

by the context of reception in the US. If transnational ties provide, as Faist and others argue

(Evans 2000; Faist 1996; Faist 2000b), alternative sources of human and social capital for

migrants and strengthen collective identity among migrants, then they may be one solution to

overcoming the structural constraints on integration of the Hispanic population into the

American culture.

Overview of the Study

In-depth interviews with twenty-eight documented and undocumented Mexican migrants,

focusing on their immigration experience, ties to homeland and receiving contexts, daily cultural

practices and perception of ties to the home community in Mexico, were conducted in a major

Southwestern city. Building on a prior analysis of data from the Mexican Migration Project that found

correlations among homeland ties and patterns of migration flows (Sills 2001), this project sought to

examine in detail the social and economic relations with sending and receiving countries, the human

and social capital of migrants, the intentions of migrants to settle, circulate and return migrate, in

addition to the daily cultural practices of the interviewees. Of central importance to the interviews and

analysis was the concept of a symbolic tie to the home community. The concept of symbolic ties has

1 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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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

been used in various ways in the literature on transnationalism. For this project, symbolic ties were

defined as significant attachments to a culture that may be observed in the daily cultural practices, uses

of cultural icons, and self-reports of the respondents’ emotional and patriotic connections to the home

country. Additionally, this analysis utilized the typology of transnational social spaces of Thomas Faist

as it classified the respondents’ migration histories as fitting into three transnational fields:

transnational kinship groups, transnational circuits, and transnational communities (Faist 2000b).

These categories were not mutually exclusive as many respondents in this study were members of

several of these fields at once.

The twenty-eight respondents were found using non-random, “snowball” sampling techniques

(Biernacki and Waldorf 1981; Granovetter 1976; Massey 1987; Galaskiewicz and Wasserman 1993).

Initially, 20 flyers were posted in various community gathering places in an area of high concentrations

of Mexican migrants. Shopping centers, laundry facilities, restaurants, and apartment complexes

known to be used frequently by immigrants were targeted for postings. From these flyers, a core

group of contacts emerged. Following the interview, respondents were asked to provide two contacts.

Respondents who were not able to provide contacts, as security and confidentiality was of great

concern, were given the 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 sufficient credibility to

participate in the interviews.2 An additional group of five respondents came from an informant who

was a member of a neighborhood Catholic Church with a large number Mexican parishioners. This

2 Only two direct referrals declined to be interviewed.

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group was overall, younger, better educated, and more integrated into US culture than those in the

core network. Two individual respondents were not connected to any network and were not able to

provide contacts as they had only recently arrived in the area from other states.3

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.

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, however, does provide an image of an

interconnected social network of mostly recent migrants.

The survey instrument, containing over 120 closed and open-ended questions, covered the

histories of border crossings, economic and labor histories, demographic background information,

familial and social ties to Mexico, frequency, and modes of maintaining those ties, and questions

regarding the subjective experience of being an immigrant in the United States. Each interview,

conducted entirely in Spanish, lasted for about one to one and a half hours. A laptop computer

utilizing survey queuing software was used to record responses for a preliminary structured interview

and to record notes during response to open-ended questions. 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

3 One of these two had left another state after having a warrant for arrest issued after driving without a license. The other had recently
divorced.

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to be used on the tapes, databases, and in reports. Analysis was conducted by quantifying data such as

frequency of contacts and number of ties into ordinal levels, and constructing simple cross tabs from

the data. Although correlation statistics were computed, the sample size was far too limited to

produce significant results, however direction of association was noted for use in later projects.

Transcriptions of open-ended questions were coded and relevant quotes were extracted and translated

to give depth to the limited statistical data.

Profile of Sample
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 (9 individuals) and Oaxaca

(146 individuals). The respondents ranged in age from 17 to 61 with a mean of 31 years. Educational

attainment also was quite broad, with respondents having from zero to 18 years of education. The

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).4 This was the first trip to the

United States for half of the sample, while one respondent had made more than 40 border crossings

(this respondent was originally from a border town). The average was 4.1 crossings, however when

the one border resident was omitted the mean number of circulations dropped to 2.4 trips. The

majority of respondents (23) were undocumented, four had permanent residence, and one had

acquired US citizenship. Respondents were designated as being members of the core network (21

migrants), the church group network (5 migrants), or non-network (2 individuals).

4 In her analysis of Mexican Migration Project data, Belinda Reyes found that the mean education of Mexican migrants was 6 years (Reyes,
1997).

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Unlike the Mexican Migration Project, which found over 95% of those with migration

experiences to be male (1999), this survey interviewed both males and females in almost equal

proportions. This may be due in part to the sampling technique as single male labor migrants are most

likely underrepresented in this study as they are less likely to be integrated into the networks captured

in the sample, more likely to circulate between the US and Mexico and less likely to permanently settle

in the United States. However, it may also be indicative in changes in the migration flows because of

greater border enforcement. Frequent circulation has become more hazardous and expensive. As a

result, labor migrants may be staying for longer periods or being accompanied by spouse and children

who would have stayed in Mexico in earlier decades.

Reasons for Migration

The respondents expressed various reasons for coming to the United States, yet the predominate

trends fit into two general classifications: labor migration and family unification. 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. Most of the females

came either as the spouse of the male labor migrant or in attempt to improve the living conditions of

their children.

Miguel, for example, had only been in the United States for eleven months at the time of

survey. He was single, twenty-two years old and from a small town in Guerrero State in Southern

Mexico. Miguel had a high school education and a certificate from a vocational school in heating and

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air-conditioning repair. Miguel had perhaps the clearest plans for return which fit into the

classification of a return migrant micro-enterprise (Landolt, Autler, and Baires 1999).He was saving

approximately half of his income from a job disassembling automobiles at a junkyard to one day return

and open his own company:

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 were living in

California. He explained that his father and his uncles all came to the United States over six years ago

to find work. His mother, four brothers and sisters, as well as the rest of his extended family, still lived

in various cities in Mexico.

Hector, on the other hand, was a thirty-one year old father of two who brought his wife and

children with him to the United States. He was from Mexico City, has a high school education, and

had been 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 recounted, he had had to sever many symbolic and social ties in

making a primarily economic decision to move:

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... To leave all these
things, in my case, to better my living condition and to be here with my wife and
children.

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Raquel was a good example of a migrant who came only to be with her family. She was a fifty-

two year old homemaker who had never worked in the United States. Though she had acquired

permanent residence status during the amnesty in the 1980s, she initially came without documentation.

The decision to come here had only to do with reuniting with her oldest son and husband who were

working in the United States:

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 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.

Finally, Guille was a thirty-two year old housecleaner who paid her way through college in

Mexico by periodically working in the United States. She also demonstrated the gendered aspect of

migration for the perceived betterment of one’s children. Her motivation for migration was to make it

easier for her then un-born 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 had been here for almost three years:

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.

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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 gendered nature of motivations for migration within this

sample. Both Hector and Miguel demonstrate the predominately male motivation to take

advantage of the wage differential between the United States and Mexico. Raquel and Guille

express the purpose of family reunification and the need to provide for the future of children that

more commonly female motivations. 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

expressed his motives in economic terms, did articulate the need to preserve family

cohesiveness. Likewise, Guille, though her intent was to provide her child with the legal

privileges of American citizenship, was also motivated by the wage differential to work in the

United States for a time before returning to Mexico.

Plans for Return

Plans for return varied greatly throughout the sample. Respondents were found to be at

different points along their migration trajectories. Nine respondents indicated no desire to return

to Mexico other than for vacations, while the majority indicated a desire to return “one day.”

Individual plans varied by gender, age, documentation status and were found to be as

unspecified as Andres, a 17 years old hotel custodian, who said, “I would like to return in three

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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….” In all, only eight had definite plans

to return within the next year.

The decision to return is often more complex than simply a desire or ability to return.

Juan (single 25 years old) had 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 friends invited

him to come to the United States. He contacted his older brother, who was then living in Texas,

and decided he would try it. He explained, though, that he was 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…

Interviewer: Here in the US?

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 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

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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…

Interviewer: And without papers here?

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 was perhaps unlike most migrants. He came from a relatively upper middle-class family,

has had some college education, spoke English well and had 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 made clear, “ I am a very secure person. I see something I want and I get because I

believe I can.” Yet, like others, he felt the pull of familial obligation and the push of an uncertain

future without legal status in the United States.

Strong family ties in the US were also important for making plans to return. Hector also was

undecided, but very pragmatic about settlement. Unlike Juan, he had immigrated with his wife and

children. He saw these family ties to the United States as well as his economic ties (relatively high

income compared to his earnings in Mexico) as fortifying his US ties:

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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 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….
Having strong family ties in the US was also a cause for a reevaluation of symbolic ties to the

homeland. When those closest to the migrant had also immigrated, there was little reason for a

respondent to think of returning. This in turn created a greater since of commitment to the host

community and a desire to become better integrated (at least economically) into the mainstream.

Hector’s brother, Raul, was a married, thirty-four year old with some vocational training. He

too had migrated with his wife and children. In his narrative, he discussed the nature of the

transnational labor circuit and how he and his family had made the transformation from a homeward

orientation of labor migrants to one of settlement and integration:

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 again 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 … No,
no I don’t think of returning. I plan to stay here.

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In contrast, Alan (Guille’s husband), found that his time here had also altered his plans, but

that while these experience had broadened his world-view, his orientation was still toward the

homeland. His original intent was to simply have his child in the US (so that she would have legal

status) and then return to Mexico. This was not as easy as he expected. He found that as he was

exposed to new ideas and experiences (he now reads Japanese comics in Spanish on the internet), he

wanted more than to return to a life in Mexico:

… I do want to return to finish school because here it is very expensive, very

expensive, very difficult... In my life here, I'm trying to give the best effort I can to
together enough money to return someday. But, I would also like to travel and have
another child. She (he points to wife) would like another child, but I would like to go
and see other places. England maybe. I know it's really far away… So, I want to be
here, but also want to return.

Economic barriers to return were also a common theme. Paullina, a twenty-eight year old

mother of three who worked evenings cleaning offices, originally came to the area to be with her

partner. However, when they separated several years ago (after he physically abused her) she

remained. She expressed her desire to return, but discussed how she could not afford to live in

Mexico:

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 [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…

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Her apparent concern for the well-being of her children outweighed 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. She also made clear that there is a great social distinction between migrants

and Chicanos (a theme discussed further in the next section). Her greatest personal aspiration was a

general amnesty that would allow her to find work more easily. She explained, “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.”

In all, there were eighteen respondents who expressed some plan to return, while nine said

they would never go back to Mexico (one was undecided). There is a complex association between the

various social and economic factors, which influence plans for settlement or return. Even simple

correlations of plans for return and degree of assimilation do not conclusively point in any direction

(see Table 1) as there are too few cases to see clear patterns. The few cases illustrate how attachments

in the sending and receiving country create strong and conflicting desires for settling and returning.

Other research on the likelihood of return migration to Mexico finds that factors such as overall labor

market participation, documentation status, transferability of human and social capital, and the

characteristics of the receiving location as having 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. 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. For the respondents in this

study, the decision to return was difficult as they weighed economic and social concerns. For some

16
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

strong family ties were found to be the deciding factor for return or settlement. For others, economic

barriers to return had the most influence on there decisions. Of those who had decided to settle, some

(like Raul) had undergone a reorientation of ties to the homeland and were becoming more integrated

into the local community. Others (like Alan), though having been exposed to ‘world culture,’ had not

reoriented their symbolic ties to Mexico and maintained a commitment to return.5

Table 1 – Crosstabulation: Degree of Assimilation by Plans to Return

PLANS Total
No Plans to return Plans to return

Degree of Assimilation Low 4 7 11

Medium 3 5 8
High 3 6 9
Total 10 18 28

Experiences in the Receiving Context

The respondents 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 on a daily basis: “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].” Far more frequent, however, was a trade of a satisfaction with personal lives for better

economic prospects. Andres (who had been in the US for only a few months), Alan (in the US for

5 Note that in a follow-up interview with Alan one year later, he is still in the US with Guille and their daughter. They have decided to stay
until they have enough capital to buy a piece of land on the outskirts of Mexico City.

17
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

more than a year), and Rosa (with more than thirty-five years as a US resident, but only recently moved

to the area) all found the local context lacking in sociability and have experienced racial discrimination:

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….

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 added that some of the lack of hospitality is the result of legislation and a political

environment on both sides of the border:

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 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...

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

This perception of the receiving context as inhospitable may act to strengthen bonds

between co-nationals as a survival strategy. Likewise, strengthened solidarity as the result of

common adversity has the effect of helping to define a community as a cohesive group. This

community, with its strengthened sense of common identity, will then engage in the production

and preservation of the home culture in the receiving context (Faist 2000a; Portes and Rumbaut

1990). At this point, a transnational community may emerge with a sense of a “collective

representations” (Faist 1998). Ethnic ties of common language, cultural practices, religion, and

nationality become more important than they may have been in the home country. In the case of

Mexican migrants, who are fractured by regionalism in the home country, the result is a

construction of ‘Mexicanness.’ This group identity and new sense of ethnic affiliation may then

have the eventual effect of promoting integration of migrants into churches, community groups,

social organizations, sports teams, etc. As social bonds in the receiving community are

reinforced, migrants begin the process of settlement resulting in further social and economic

integration and assimilation.

Measures of Assimilation
Researchers have used various proxies for gauging the economic and social assimilation of

immigrant groups. Economic assimilation has been studied by measures such as occupational prestige,

wage mobility of individual immigrants, and comparison ethnic cohort income differentials (Edin

2000; Law 1989; Lindstrom and Massey 1994; Livingston 1999; Reitz and Sklar 1997; Tienda and

Singer 1995). Language has often been used as an indicator of social assimilation ((Espinosa and

Massey 1997; Lindstrom and Massey 1994; Stolzenberg and Tienda 1997; Wolf 1997)). Social distance

19
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

(Bogardus 1925) has also been used to gauge integration of an ethnic minority group into a

multicultural society (Gurak and Fitzpatrick 1982; McAllister, 1991). Residential assimilation patterns,

too, have been commonly used to assess overall assimilation of immigrants (Clark 1996; Clark and

Ware 1997; Denton and Massey 1988; Fischer and Massey 1999; Goldstein and White 1985; Massey

1981; Massey 1985; Massey and Denton 1992a; Massey and Denton 1992b).

This analysis combines quantitative and qualitative data from the interviews in an

operationalization of the concept of assimilation. By combining variables such as language preference

in various social settings, diversity of ethnicity in social ties, membership in formal social groups,

acquisition of a US bank account, self-identified location of permanent residence, and current legal

status three levels of assimilation are attained (Table 2). Correlations were then observed between

transnational ties and the degree of assimilation, and anecdotal support for these associations were

provided from transcriptions. Additionally, while age, gender, year of initial migration, and number of

border crossings were not clearly associated with the degree of assimilation in this sample, a higher

level of educational attainment was found to be linked to higher levels of assimilation (See Table 3).

This tends to support the hypothesis that migrants with greater human capital are far more likely to

become integrated into a receiving community (Faist 2000b).

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Table 2 - Assimilation Measures

Assimilation Language Use Diversity Of Formal Bank Perm. Legal Status

Ties Group Account Residence
Membership
High Both Eng/Spa Low Yes Yes US Undocumented
High Both Eng/Spa High Yes Yes US Perm. Resident
High Both Eng/Spa Mid Yes Yes US Perm. Resident
High Both Eng/Spa High Yes No US Undocumented
High Mostly Spanish Mid Yes Yes US Undocumented
High Spanish Low Yes No US Citizen
High Both Eng/Spa Mid Yes Yes US Undocumented
High Spanish Low Yes Yes US Perm. Resident
High Both Eng/Spa Low Yes No US Perm. Resident
Mid Mostly Spanish Low No No US Undocumented
Mid Spanish Mid No No US Undocumented
Mid Mostly Spanish Low No Yes US Undocumented
Mid Spanish Mid No No US Undocumented
Mid Spanish Low Yes No US Undocumented
Mid Spanish Low Yes Yes US Undocumented
Mid Spanish High Yes No US Undocumented
Mid Both Eng/Spa Low No No US Undocumented
Low Spanish Mid No No MX Undocumented
Low Spanish Low No No US Undocumented
Low Mostly Spanish Mid No No MX Undocumented
Low Spanish Low No No US Undocumented
Low Mostly Spanish Mid No No MX Undocumented
Low Spanish Low No No MX Undocumented
Low Spanish Low No No US Undocumented
Low Spanish Low Yes No MX Undocumented
Low Spanish Low No Yes US Undocumented
Low Mostly Spanish Low No No MX Undocumented
Low Spanish Low No No US Undocumented

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Table 3 - Degree of Assimilation by Education Crosstabulation

Education Total
None Elementary Junior High Some Finished
High School College College

Degree of Low . 3 5 2 1 . 11
Assimilation Medium . 3 1 2 2 8
High 1 1 1 . 4 2 9
Total 1 7 7 4 7 2 28

Of prime importance to this analysis is the concept of social distance as it relates to

assimilation. Diversity of ethnic ties has been used in the earlier analyses of migrant communities as a

measure of acculturation (Gurak and Fitzpatrick 1982; McAllister and Moore 1991; Portes 1984).

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. This study asked

respondents to rate their associations with various ethnic groups on a five-point scale. Social distance

was then organized from the perspective of a Mexican migrant with associations between themselves

and other Mexican migrants as being the closest followed by associations with Chicanos, other

Latinos, non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and Asians in that order. Point values were

assigned with positive relations between themselves and the most distant group having the highest

values. Negative or problematic relations with other groups were assigned a negative point value.

Values were summed and then ranked relative to other respondents in the sample. Overall diversity of

ties was quite limited. On the whole migrants in this sample had very little association with other

ethnic groups, especially Asians and African-Americans.6 There was only slightly more association with

6 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).

22
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

non-Mexican Latinos and Chicanos. Moreover, the most association beyond co-nationals occurred

with non-Hispanic Whites. However, those who had at least some college experience were most likely

to report positive associations with members of other ethnic groups.

Four respondents reported problematic relations with other ethnic groups, most notably with

individuals of Mexican decent who were born in the US or had migrated at a young age (Chicanos).

The perception among several of the respondents was that many Chicanos are involved in criminal

activities or have a sense of superiority over Mexican immigrants. Refugio explains why he does not

associate with Chicanos:

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:

Interviewer: What kind of relationship do you have with Chicanos?

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…

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Table 4 - Frequency and Method of Contact

Gender Frequency Call Whom Call Frequency Whom Write

Write
Male Never N/A < Once year Relatives
Female Never N/A Never N/A
Male < Once year Relatives Never N/A
Male 2-4 times year Relatives Never N/A
Male 2-4 times year Relatives 5-7 times year Relatives
Female 2-4 times year Friends/ Relatives 2-3 time month Friends/ Relatives
Male Monthly Relatives Monthly Friends
Male Monthly Relatives < Once year Friends/ Relatives
Female Monthly Relatives < Once year Relatives
Male Monthly Relatives Monthly Friends/ Relatives
Male Monthly Relatives 5-7 times year Relatives
Female Monthly Relatives 2-3 time month Relatives
Male Monthly Relatives Never N/A
Female Monthly Relatives < Once year Relatives
Male Monthly Relatives < Once year Relatives
Male Monthly Relatives Never N/A
Male 2-3 time month Relatives < Once year Relatives
Male 2-3 time month Relatives < Once year Relatives
Female 2-3 time month Relatives 2-4 times year Friends/ Relatives
Female 2-3 time month Relatives < Once year Relatives
Male 2-3 time month Spouse/ Relatives < Once year Relatives
Male 2-3 times week Friends/ Relatives < Once year Relatives
Female 2-3 times week Relatives < Once year Relatives
Female 2-3 times week Relatives Never N/A
Female Weekly Relatives 2-4 times year Friends
Female Weekly Relatives 8-10 time year Friends/ Relatives
Male Weekly Relatives Never N/A
Female > 3 times week Relatives Monthly Friends/ Relatives

Social Ties to Mexico

The concept of social ties to Mexico was established by respondents detailing the number of family

and close friends who reside in Mexico, frequency of contact with them and the method of contact
Comment: You don’t need table 4. Its
far too difficult to determine any patterns
employed. Description of results in Table 4 here.. All respondents had extended family in Mexico and for the reader. You can simply talk about
the range of contact with friends and
relatives from Mexico.
three respondents, all involved in transnational labor circulation, had a spouse and children still

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

residing there. Only two respondents had no close social ties (as measured by immediate family or

closest friends) in Mexico.

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 as a

consistent pattern. Gregorio (33, married, prep-cook in a restaurant), Andres (17, single, hotel

custodian), and Maribel (34, married, dishwasher) all expressed similar views:

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….

Jorge, a single twenty year old working as a carpenter, added 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.

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

With improvements and reduced costs in international communications technologies, many of

the respondents maintained ties while abroad, even if they could not visit (Table 4). Twenty-two

interviewees in the sample were in touch on a monthly basis by telephone. Two respondents used the

Internet to contact friends in Mexico. The growing availability of inexpensive prepaid telephone cards

was evident as twenty-two respondents used them to pay for calls.

A close comparison of responses suggests that there is a negative relationship between the

strength of Mexican social ties and the degree of assimilation in the US. This association may be

confounded, however, by the fact that those with the strongest Mexican ties had spent the least time in

the US. Yet, Table 5 does show that the majority of those with a High degree of assimilation had only

medium to weak Mexican social ties.

Table 5 - Strength of Social Ties to Mexico by Assimilation

Strength of Mexican Social Ties Total
Weak Medium Strong

Degree of Assimilation Low 8 3 11

Medium 7 1 8
High 3 5 1 9
Total 3 20 5 28

Economic Ties to Mexico

Economic ties to Mexico were measured as percentage of total US income that the migrant

remits to family or friends in Mexico on an average monthly basis. 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. Those with weak social and familial ties to Mexico also had weak

26
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

economic ties to their country and very low levels of remittances. 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 was a correspondence with strong family ties and plans for

eventual permanent return to Mexico. Likewise, in cases of no economic ties to Mexico

respondents had only weak to medium social ties to Mexico. 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 relative costs of circulation (both

economic and in risk of apprehension) 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.

Economic ties to Mexico were also associated with gender, educational attainment, social

ties to Mexico, and symbolic ties to Mexico. Males were found to have the strongest economic

ties to Mexico. This may be more reflective of the gendered aspect of Hispanic labor

participation, yet the outcome is that males have more income to remit to Mexico. It was also

noted that none of the respondents with above a high school education (and only one with a high

school education) had strong economic ties to Mexico. As economic ties here do represent also a

social tie, there was of course a high degree of association between those with strong economic

and social ties. Finally, there appears to be a bifurcation among those with strong symbolic ties,

as the majority had either no economic ties or strong economic ties to Mexico.

Economic ties to Mexico were not found to limit the degree of assimilation. However,

Table 6 does show that none of those with strong economic ties to Mexico had a high degree of

27
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

assimilation. Those who follow a labor migration pattern are least likely to participate in formal

groups, have legal status, acquire proficiency in English, have a bank account, or declare the US

as their place of permanent residence. These individual came to save a target amount of capital

or to remit funds to family in Mexico as an economic strategy (Massey and Basem 1992; Portes,

Dore Cabral, and Landolt 1997; Stark and Lucas 1988), and thus have the least social investment

long-term residence in the US.

Table 6 - Degree of Assimilation by Strength of Economic Ties to Mexico

Strength of Economic Ties to Mexico Total

None Weak Medium Strong

Degree of Assimilation Low 5 1 2 3 11

Medium 5 1 2 8
High 5 2 2 9
Total 15 4 4 5 28

Symbolic Ties to Mexico

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.). According to Thomas

Faist, these ties represent “perceived bonds, both face-to-face and indirect, to which participants attach

shared meanings, memories, future expectations, and representations” (Faist 2000, p102). Itzigsohn et

al. further delineate symbolic ties to “narrow” and “broad” transnational cultural practices (1999). In

28
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

their study of Dominicans in the United States, they defined 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, Cabral, Hernandez Medina, and

Vazquez 1999).

This project explored broad symbolic ties in the narratives of the migrants’ experiences, as well

narrow ties in questions regarding their daily utilization of culture-specific media, entertainment, foods,

and symbols. Thus, preference for American or Mexican material culture was detailed for each of the

respondents. Additionally, interviewees were asked to define concepts such as patriotism, emotions

inspired by thinking of their homeland, experience of feelings of living in two worlds, and eventual

goals of returning to Mexico.

On the extremes, were five individuals whose primary cultural ties were to the United States

(i.e. weak Mexican ties) and nine whose ties were oriented toward Mexico. All but one of those with

strong symbolic ties, notably had les than a high school education, and all had medium to strong social

ties in Mexico. Those five with the weakest ties to Mexico, collectively had spent the most time in the

US, had no economic ties to Mexico and had only weak to medium social ties. Additionally, none had

plans for returning to Mexico.

Importantly, some respondents were initially confused by the concept of national identity,

perhaps as there is no one “Mexican” identity but rather many regional identities. Mexico is yet a

country with few universal symbols, recognized landmarks, and unifying cultural traditions. Each

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Table 7 - Symbolic Ties in Daily Culture

Symbolic Ties Music Radio TV Station Movies Food Restaurant Return “two worlds”
Weak Both (more US) Mex Both US Sci-Fi/ Action Mexican Both No No Comment
Weak Mexican Mex Both US Children's/ Action N/A Both No No
Weak Both (more US) Mex None US Action International American No No
Weak Both (More Mex.) US US Mexican and US Classics Mexican Mexican No No
Weak Both (More Mex.) Both Both US Children's/ Action Mexican American Yes No
Medium Mexican US US US Action/Comedy Mexican American Yes Yes
Medium Mexican Mex Both US Action/Horror Mexican None Yes Yes
Medium Mexican None Mexican Mexican Classics International Mexican Yes No Comment
Medium Both (more US) Mex Both US Comedy/ Action Mexican Both Yes No Comment
Medium Mexican Mex Mexican Any films No Comment American No No
Medium Mexican Mex US US Action Mexican American Yes Yes
Medium Mexican Mex Both US Action Mexican American Yes Yes
Medium Mexican Mex Both US Action International American Yes Yes
Medium English Mex US US Action/ Horror Mexican None Undecided No Comment
Medium Both (More Mex.) Mex Mexican US Action/ Drama Mexican American Yes No
Medium None Mex Mexican Mexican Classics/ Mexican American No No
Comedies
Medium Mexican Mex Both US Action Mexican None Yes No Comment
Medium Mexican Mex Both US Children's Mexican Mexican No No
Medium Mexican Mex Mexican US Action Mexican None No No Comment
Strong Mexican Mex Both US Romance Mexican Mexican Yes Yes
Strong Mexican Mex Mexican Mexican Ranchero Mexican American No Yes
Strong Mexican Mex Mexican US Action/ Suspense Mexican Mexican Yes Yes
Strong None None Mexican Mexican Classics Mexican None Yes Yes
Strong Mexican Mex Mexican US Action Mexican American Yes Yes
Strong Mexican Mex Mexican None Mexican American Yes Yes
Strong Mexican Mex Mexican Mexican Classics/ Mexican None Yes Yes
Comedies
Strong Mexican Mex US US Children's Mexican None Yes Yes
Strong Mexican Mex Mexican US Action Mexican Both Yes Yes
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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

region has had a separate history of conquest, numerous ethnic differences, distinct cultural practices,

and even regional linguistic variation. Maribel, for example, points out that national identity is for her

the culture of her region:

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 little… but we know we are living in two
parts. We are working here so we will have an easier life in Mexico…
Of importance was the perception that ‘Mexicanness’ was something less than equal to

majority culture in the receiving context. With the recent debate over bilingual education7, growing

7 Measures passed in both California and now Arizona to eliminate bilingual education in favor of English immersion programs.

31
 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

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, in fact explained that she had 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.

The connection between symbolic ties and the degree of assimilation is yet unclear. As shown

in Table 8, comparing ties with the the ordinal measure of assimilation described above, there does not

appear to be a strong correlationg with symbolic ties to Mexico. (Table 8). Those with a high degree

of assimilation may be more involved in the production of culture and maintenance of broad symbolic

ties as they had the highest levels of cultural capital. Therefore, while for one migrant symbolic ties are

evident in their daily cultural practices, for a migrant who is more assimilated symbolic ties will be

more evident in their practice of a ‘double consciousness’ (Glick Schiller and Fouron 1999).

Table 8 - Crosstabulation Degree of Assimilation by Symbolic Ties to Mexico

Symbolic Ties to Mex Total

Weak Medium Strong

Degree of Assimilation Low 5 6 11

Medium 3 4 1 8
High 2 5 2 9

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Francisco was exemplary of this pattern. He lived in a primarily Anglo neighborhood,

attended university, and had a diversity of social ties. Francisco characterized his identity as being pan-

Hispanic. He pointed 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. He did say that he had a different relationship with his friends who are of

Hispanic heritage than with his Anglo friends, but pointed 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 would

identify as a Mexican or as a Chicano depending upon the social situation: “I believe I have no real

identification... I am able to adapt, from Latino to Hispanic to Mexican-American, 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 is especially important in our understanding of

transnational fields as one strategy for negotiating a culturally pluralistic environment.

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-

local and even transnational identities.

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Conclusions and Implications

The in-depth interviews discussed here clearly demonstrate the competing factors influencing

migrants’ settlement decisions. Both economic and family ties influence the decisions to remain in the

United States although some gender differences in the weight assigned to these factors did emerge

from the interviews. Overall personal economic and family conditions outweighed social distance in

keeping migrants in the United States. While other research has suggested that the degree of

assimilation and integration in the receiving community increases the likelihood of permanent

settlement and decreases return migration, the informants in this study are clearly more heavily

influenced by their personal needs.

Few migrants had developed close ties demonstrating that social distance between migrants

and other ethnic groups remains quite wide. Respondents who reported negative experiences said that

they had difficulties with other Hispanics of Mexican descent that were born in the US or migrated

here at a young age. These experiences highlight the social stratification that occurs within migrant

communities. Perhaps strengthened solidarity as the result of common adversity in the receiving

context helps to define a community as a cohesive group but none of the responses =in these

interviews to support this hypothesis directly.

This analysis combines quantitative and qualitative data from the interviews in an effort to test

the effects of social, economic, and symbolic ties to Mexico on the measures of assimilation in this

particular community. There appears to be a negative relationship between the strength of Mexican

social ties and the degree of assimilation in the US. Strong economic ties were not found to

necessarily limit the degree of assimilation, yet none of those with strong economic ties to Mexico had

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

a high degree of assimilation. Economic ties to Mexico were also found to be related to gender,

positively associated with educational attainment and social ties to Mexico, and negatively related to

symbolic ties to Mexico. Strong symbolic ties on the other hand were negatively related to education,

while positively associated with duration in the US. The relation between assimilation and symbolic

ties remains unclear. Daily cultural practices of all the migrants interviewed reflected cultural heritage

and the pluralistic nature of the US. It is particularly notable that, among long-term residents who are

well integrated into American society, there is a practice of shifting between identities and allowing the

social environment to determine the way in which one constructs his or her ethnic identity.

Based on the insights gained from these interviews, it is clear that future research needs to

include measures of social, economic and symbolic ties in the receiving community as well as the

country of origin when investigating the nature of integration into the receiving society. Those

migrants with a great deal of experience in the receiving community appear to form strong ties to these

communities while not necessarily giving up their country of origin identity. The nature of integration,

therefore, does not follow the traditional view of assimilation whereby migrants must shed their

cultural identity and adopt an American identity. Rather, migrants….

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

Summary Table
Sex Age Education First trip Numbe Degree of Strength of Mexican Strength of Economic Symbolic Ties to Mexico
to US r of Assimilation Social Ties Ties to Mexico
Trips
Male 23 Some College 1999 1 High Strong Weak Medium
Male 24 Some College 1988 12 High Weak None Medium
Male 23 College Degree 1980 4 High Weak None Weak
Female 27 Some College 1994 1 High Medium Medium Medium
Female 32 College Degree 1993 3 High Medium Weak Medium
Male 61 Elementary 1977 5 High Medium None Strong
Male 26 Some College 1999 1 High Medium None Medium
Female 52 None 1986 3 High Medium Medium Strong
Female 49 Junior High 1956 40 High Weak None Weak
Male 17 High School 2000 1 Low Medium Medium Medium
Female 32 Elementary 1989 3 Low Medium None Strong
Male 33 High School 1991 3 Low Medium Strong Strong
Male 25 Elementary 1995 1 Low Medium None Medium
Female 28 Junior High 2000 1 Low Medium None Strong
Female 34 Junior High 1998 2 Low Strong Strong Strong
Female 30 Junior High 1999 1 Low Strong Weak Strong
Male 22 Some College 1999 1 Low Medium Medium Medium
Male 42 Elementary 1982 6 Low Strong Strong Strong
Female 28 Junior High 1989 4 Low Medium None Medium
Male 35 Junior High 1995 3 Low Medium None Medium
Male 23 Junior High 1997 1 Mid Medium Strong Strong
Male 20 Elementary 1997 2 Mid Medium Strong Medium
Male 31 High School 1998 1 Mid Medium None Weak
Male 18 Elementary 1999 1 Mid Medium None Medium
Female 29 High School 1996 2 Mid Strong Weak Medium
Female 34 Elementary 1994 1 Mid Medium None Medium
Male 36 Some College 1994 1 Mid Medium None Weak
Female 34 Some College 1984 5 Mid Medium None Weak

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 TRANSNATIONAL TIES IN MEXICAN COMMUNITIES

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