Transnational Aging: Disparities Among Aging Mexican Immigrants

Abstract

Migration between Mexico and the United States has undergone major transformations, changing from an open and circulatory process to a mainly clandestine one. The historical changes of migration and its social impact can be retrospectively examined by analyzing an elderly population that experienced migration in the last seven decades. In this paper, we look at two older groups: 1) "swallow" migrants, those who obtained legalization as Braceros (through an agricultural production bilateral program) or through other mechanisms of US immigration legislation; and 2) undocumented migrants. We compare both groups using in-depth interviews with individuals of fifty years and over living in the Mexican states of Guanajuato and Zacatecas and three US cities: Dallas, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California. By comparing them, we highlight the disparities in their migration experiences. Our findings show the benefits experienced because of the rights obtained by swallows, particularly as a result of their legal status, which allows them to live out their later years benefiting from their transnational social capital.