Mexico's Emigration Policies : Recent Developments and Continuing Challenges

Mexico is well known as a country of emigration, with a considerable proportion of the country's total population having migrated to the United States. While the Mexican government has maintained a 'no policy politics' ('la política de no tener política') position in regard to its migrant population for years, the last two decades have seen an increasing effort from all levels of government to engage with the Mexican population living abroad. This paper will critically analyse the recent development of Mexico's emigration policies at the federal level. Section one will provide a brief introduction into this matter. Section two will provide an overview of the main characteristics of the Mexican diaspora living in the United States. Section three will analyse the development of recent emigration policies within historical context, and will discuss the main factors influencing policy transformations. Section four will introduce the main policies developed by the Mexican government since the late 1980s in the area of emigration. Section five will provide a critique of Mexico's emigration policies by highlighting the manner in which current policies fail to address some of the most problematic challenges associated with the reality of Mexican migration to the United States.