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“I hope we have more self-respect, value opportunities in Mexico more, and dispel the myth of the American dream.”
This wish was repeated by Mexicans Vicente Cruz, Damian Palacios and Francisco Maximo as they told their story to BBC Mundo.
Cruz is a dynamic young man from Mexico City with a history of successful entrepreneurial experiences.
Palacios was an immigrant who returned from the United States and founded a tortilla franchise, making enough profit to help his children get scholarships in Texas.
Máximo, a humble but self-sacrificing worker from Veracruz, is slowly making his way to the point of buying an apartment in the Mexican capital.
Their biographies differ, but they share a common link: They had the opportunity to immigrate or stay in the United States, but they rejected the idea. They increasingly saw no point in it.
“We have a strong weight, many opportunities for growth and ‘a special affection for the land,'” said Palacios, who hails from the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in the Mexican states of Querétaro and San Luis.
Mexicans like Cruz, Palacios and Maximo are thinking less and less about immigration.
It’s a striking trend for a country whose citizens have for decades looked to their powerful northern neighbor for opportunities. An estimated 40 million of the country’s 300 million inhabitants are of Mexican origin, according to current population data for 2018. The survey of the United States is reflected on the Mexican government page.
However, in 2023, the Latin American Opinion Project Lab (Lapop) reported that Mexicans were the least likely ethnic group to immigrate across the region. This number has also been declining over the past five years.
Of the 19% of respondents who intended to emigrate between 2018 and 2019, only 14% planned to do so in 2023.
This trend runs counter to the intentions of most countries in the region, where emigration intentions increased during this period, especially in Nicaragua (from 30% to 50%), Peru (from 33% to 40%) and Ecuador (from 30% to 39%).
The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that the number of Mexican migrants has decreased by 10% between 2010 and 2020. The number fell from 12,415,000 registered in 2010 to 11,186,000 in 2020.
“There is still a large number of Mexicans continuing to migrate, particularly to the United States, but it’s important to note that migration is changing and the stabilization of the economy and the strengthening of the peso are probably factors (in this trend),” he told BBC Mundo Ariel Ruiz Soto of the Migration Policy Institute.
Mexico is experiencing a stable and strong economic moment.
Currently, it acts as a magnet for digital nomads, dozens of multinational companies, foreign entrepreneurs and Mexicans returning home after spending time abroad.
“The mentality has changed a lot. There’s an amazing entrepreneurial scene here, and a lot of young people and foreigners, including many Americans, are interested in living, working and investing in Mexico,” said Cruz, of digital marketing agency Papel Maché.
Thanks to his work, Cruz believes he has “a good thermometer” of how Mexico’s wealth behaves on the streets: the price of 18 pesos per dollar (two years ago it was 20), an increase of more than 3% in GDP in 2023 (among the top four in the region), consolidating the second economy in Latin America, after Brazil, and unemployment at 2.8%.
However, the World Bank warned that “over the past three decades, Mexico has performed below expectations on growth, inclusiveness, and poverty reduction compared with similar countries,” despite progress made during the six-year tenure of Andrés Manuel López Obrador as president.
“But in big urban areas: CDMX, Monterrey or Puebla, for example, there is a huge appreciation for how economic growth helps local families,” Ruiz Soto said.
Experts insist that this reality appears to be changing Mexican immigration and mentality.
Cruz shows me his workplace, a stunning house built in the early 20th century that has been converted into a commercial space in Mexico City’s Juarez neighborhood.
“New clients arrive every week, Mexicans and foreigners, all with ideas for projects,” he said as we toured the mansion.
Cruz, 38, has a rich resume.
Before setting up the marketing agency, he ran a burger takeaway restaurant called IT Burgers.
Previously, he worked with Eugenio Derbez, a famous Mexican actor and comedian. So I go to Los Angeles very often, at least once a month.
He carefully weighed the pros and cons of living and working on both sides of the border.
“It was always clear to me that I would have a better future in Mexico,” he said.
“Mexicans have an idealistic idea of all the opportunities in the U.S., but in a country like Mexico, sometimes there’s more to do. With good, well-structured ideas, the likelihood of raising money is much higher than people think. Believe.”
He believes many Mexicans have realized “an uncertain narrative of the American dream” and are now returning from the United States with dollars and “interesting American technology” that has helped Mexico prosper.
Cruz isn’t idealistic though: “It’s not the American dream, it’s not the Mexican dream. It’s a story of sacrifice making everything possible, and Mexico has other problems, like gentrification due to its popularity.”
Mexican entrepreneurs and workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also told BBC Mundo that “floor power” kills many start-ups once their success becomes known.
So-called floor rights occur when criminals or criminal groups show up at a business and demand money from the owner in exchange for physical and material protection.
Damian Palacios is one of the Mexicans who returned after decades in the United States.
He lives in San Antonio, Texas, which he considers his second home.
He left in the late 1980s and returned in the early 2000s with new ideas, desires, resources, and the utmost respect for taking care of customers and workers.
“I started a chain of taco shops that now has 45 employees. I wanted to come back and help and contribute to the economy of small towns where we didn’t know the opportunities existed.”
The trend of Mexicans returning home from the United States is another striking phenomenon.
Experts have been studying the return of Mexican migrants, which has experienced ups and downs, since the economic crisis that shocked the world in 2008.
The number of returnees hit an all-time high of 832,790 in 2010. The 2020 census recorded 294,203 returnees, but that number is still higher than reported in 2000, according to a study by the Autonomous University of Mexico.
The IOM spoke of “high levels” of returns, leading to a general decline in Mexican immigration to the United States.
“For my part, I came back because I opened my eyes and believed in myself. America was a school, but I noticed indifference. Mexico has opportunities and human warmth. We should have more self-respect,” Palacios said.
His case also illustrates the conflicts that can occur across boundaries.
Coming from resource-poor Mexico, he helps his children maintain scholarships to prestigious universities in Texas, “where there’s more money, but life is more expensive.”
“It’s a huge struggle to support them financially,” admits Palacios, who proudly shows me photos of his graduated kids.
When Francesco Maximo looks back and imagines the path he has taken, his eyes sparkle.
He came to CDMX in the early 90s at the age of 14 and since then has worked in construction, hospitality, handyman, etc… He has a lot of industry experience.
Two of his brothers live in the U.S., one temporarily and the other permanently, after first arriving illegally. For a while, they insisted on taking this step.
“I thought a lot about it, but I prefer to stay with my family, watch my children grow up and take advantage of the fact that a lot has changed in Mexico, especially in terms of job options. You just have to find it and try hard,” he reflected.
When he analyzes the differences with his brothers, he says “they have achieved more in terms of possessions: cars, houses.”
But even that is about to change. With hard work, savings and a supportive boss who “treats him as part of the family,” Maximo is about to buy his first apartment.
He ended the conversation with a wish: “I hope my brothers will realize and come back. I hope I can reunite my family again.”
Immigration expert Ariel Ruiz Soto clarified that the increasing number of Mexicans finding reasons to stay or return is closely related to the fact that the number of Mexican migrants coming to the United States irregularly remains relatively stable, while the number of those migrating through regular mechanisms such as temporary visas is increasing.
But he sees a change in trend.
“These irregular migrants may be more likely to move due to violence, crime or discrimination, often outside urban areas, rather than for economic reasons as before,” Ruiz Soto analyzed.
This is the other side of the country’s economic boom, which saw the number of homicide victims in the country reach a chilling 30,523 in 2023, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.
It is a crime that, along with other factors such as the power of drug cartels, reports of a weak state, lack of greater access to education and health care, and high levels of gender-based violence, has left large parts of the population in a state of fear and hardship.
“The economy, crime and violence in Mexico will determine what immigration looks like in the coming years,” Ruiz Soto concluded.
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