Recent work on transnationalism provides evidence to support the argument that transnational ties to the home country and integration into the host state are not mutually exclusive processes . Moreover, connections to the home country attenuate over time and by the third generation immigrants are usually fully integrated into the receiving country. Given that some of the existing transnational ties are encouraged and facilitated by the home country, critics of sending states' diaspora engagement activities argue that their promotion of ongoing (...) transborder connections limits immigrants' integration into the host state. The case of Mexico shows that there are stated and unstated objectives in the state's diaspora engagement policies, including the promotion of the government's political and economic interests, the need to maintain its legitimacy at home and abroad, and the interest in facilitating and securing remittance flows. But since the 1990s the programs developed by the Mexican government directed to migrants in the U.S. also seek to improve their living conditions in the host country. An issue that requires further exploration and is addressed in this paper is whether and how the services that Mexico provides to emigrants through its 50 consulates and the Institute of Mexicans Abroad contribute to or limit migrants' process of integration in the United States. Such services include, among others, preventive health care and medical referrals, adult education programs, and leadership development. This paper examines the effects of the Mexican government's programs on the integration of Mexican immigrants based on interviews in various U.S. cities. It also examines the response in the U.S. to the Mexican government's active role in this regard. (shrink)

In the past two decades, changes in the Mexican government's policies toward the 30 million Mexican migrants living in the US highlight the importance of the Mexican diaspora in both countries given its size, its economic power and its growing political participation across borders. This work examines how the Mexican government's assessment of the possibilities and consequences of implementing certain emigration policies from 1848 to 2010 has been tied to changes in the bilateral relationship, which remains a key factor in (...) Mexico's current development of strategies and policies in relation to migrants in the United States. Understanding this dynamic gives an insight into the stated and unstated objectives of Mexico's recent activism in defending migrants' rights and engaging the diaspora, the continuing linkage between Mexican migration policies and shifts in the US-Mexico relationship, and the limits and possibilities for expanding shared mechanisms for the management of migration within the NAFTA framework. (shrink)

This article examines the processes of investigation and gathering evidence about victims of the September 11 attacks to better understand the inability of state and nonstate institutions to effectively deal with the invisibility of undocumented migrants in terms of providing assistance and recognition at a moment of tragedy. The failure to make the invisible visible or to address the very question of visibility publicly is explained by three major reasons: 1) A general fear of coming forward on the part of (...) undocumented migrants or their families, partly as a result of their legal status and their lack of trust in government agencies, which was compounded by ineffective communication about available relief services; 2) different procedural requirements and logics of evidence used by government and nongovernmental relief agencies, which, in some cases, made it impossible for undocumented migrants or their families to provide proof of their presence at the site or employment in the businesses affected; 3) the context of 9/11 as a disruptive event that influenced the overall climate in which issues of victimhood and immigration status could be addressed. (shrink)