Immigration to Mexico

Mexico has a rich history of immigration from various parts of the World. Besides the Spanish colonists, Mexico also experienced European immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries although smaller in number compared to the massive influx of immigrants to South American countries like Argentina, Brazil or Uruguay. Non-Spanish immigrant groups included British, Irish, Italian, German, French and Dutch including large numbers of Middle Eastern immigrants arriving during the same period, mostly from Turkey and Lebanon. Asian immigrants, which were mostly Chinese immigrated to Mexico via the United States settled in northern Mexico, whereas Koreans settled in central Mexico.

During the 1970s and 1980s Mexico opened its doors to immigrants from Latin America, mainly political refugees from Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Central America. The Mexican governments during most of the 20th century had a policy of granting asylum to fellow Latin Americans fleeing political persecution in their home countries. A second wave of immigrants came to Mexico as a result of the economic crises experienced by some countries in the region.

Mexico has the largest numbers of American citizens living abroad. The American Citizens Abroad Association estimated in 1999 that a little more than one million Americans live in Mexico (at that time representing about 25% of all American citizens living abroad). This immigration phenomenon can be explained by the fact that Mexico has become a popular destination for retirees especially the small towns. For example, in the State of Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende is home to approx.
200,000 Americans as their residence.

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