Ir al menú de navegación principal Ir al contenido principal Ir al pie de página del sitio
Migraciones Internacionales e-ISSN: 2594-0279

Artículos

Vol. 6 Núm. 21 (2011): julio-diciembre, 2011

Beyond Chapala and Cancún: Grappling with the Impact of American Migration to Mexico

DOI
https://doi.org/10.17428/rmi.v6i21.758
Publicado
2017-04-03

Resumen

Over the past two decades, a twist in the migratory relationship between Mexico and the United States has begun to attract the attention of policy makers and scholars: a growing stream of people moving permanently or semi-permanently from the United States to Mexico. Th e general understanding of this phenomenon until recently has been that these migrants are wealthy retirees moving to isolated resort-type complexes in beach cities. However, the present paper demonstrates that the migration is actually heterogeneous in terms of its people, places and impacts.Thus, we argue that study of the phenomenon must be expanded to include not only a better understanding of the migrants themselves, but also the impacts on the receiving localities. To this end, we propose a framework for a research agenda, creating a typology of receiving places and the settlements within these places.Más allá de Chapala y Cancún: Lidiando con el impacto de la migración estadounidense en MéxicoResumenA lo largo de las dos últimas décadas, un viraje en la relación migratoria entre México y Estados Unidos ha comenzado a captar el interés de políticos e investigadores: se trata del flujo en el aumento de estadounidenses que se trasladan a vivir a México de manera temporal o permanente. Hasta hace poco, la interpretación general de este fenómeno era que se trataba de migrantes jubilados y solventes que se dirigían a centros turísticos exclusivos en diversas ciudades costeras. Este trabajo pone de manifiesto que esta migración es en extremo heterogénea en cuanto a las personas, los destinos y sus efectos.Además argumenta que el análisis de este fenómeno debería enfocarse no sólo en los migrantes sino también en el impacto del flujo migratorio sobre las localidades receptoras. Con este fin, se propone un esquema para una nueva línea de investigación con una tipología de las localidades receptoras y sus asentamientos. Esta tipología nos permite acceder a la literatura académica para la investigación de la migración de estadounidenses a México.

Imagen de portada

Palabras clave

  • retirement migration
  • urban planning
  • tourism geographies
  • Mexico
  • United States

Cómo citar

Schafran, A., & Monkkonen, P. (2017). Beyond Chapala and Cancún: Grappling with the Impact of American Migration to Mexico. Migraciones Internacionales, 6(21), 223–258. https://doi.org/10.17428/rmi.v6i21.758
Aviso de derechos de autor/a

Citas

  1. Álvarez-Rivadulla, M. J., 2007, “Golden Ghettos: Gated Communities
  2. and Class Residential Segregation in Montevideo, Uruguay”,
  3. Environment and Planning A, vol. 39, num. 1, pp. 47-63.
  4. American Citizens Abroad (aca), 1999, “Myths and Facts: Including
  5. Americans Abroad in Census 2000”. Available at
  6. www.aca.ch/mythfac.htm> (last accessed on July 19, 2009).
  7. Andelson, R. V., 2000, “Land-value Taxation around the World”,
  8. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 59, num. 5,
  9. Supplement, p. 490.
  10. Banks, S. P., 2004, “Identity Narratives by American and Canadian
  11. Retirees in Mexico”, Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology,
  12. vol. 19, num. 4, December, pp. 361-381.
  13. Bosque, R. L., and V. Z. Montes de Oca Zavala [conference],
  14. , “Análisis comparado de la migración internacional de
  15. vejez hacia España y México”, ii Congreso de la Asociación
  16. Latinoamericana de Población, Guadalajara, Mexico, September
  17. -5.
  18. Brenner, L., 2005, “State-planned Tourism Destinations: The
  19. Case of Huatulco, Mexico”, Tourism Geographies, vol. 7, num.
  20. , pp. 138-164.
  21. Brenner, L. and A. G. Aguilar, 2002, “Luxury Tourism and Regional
  22. Economic Development in Mexico”, The Professional
  23. Geographer, vol. 54, num. 4, pp. 500-520.
  24. Caldeira, T. P. R., 2000, City of Walls: Crime, Segregation, and
  25. Citizenship in São Paulo, Berkeley, California, University of
  26. California Press.
  27. Chicago Graduate School of Business News, 2007, “Mexican-U.S.
  28. Migration could Flow Both Ways”, Chicago GSB News, Chicago,
  29. Illinois, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business,
  30. June 14. Available at
  31. -14_carstens.aspx> (last accessed on June 14, 2007).
  32. Clancy, M. J., 1999, “Tourism and Development Evidence from
  33. Mexico”, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 26, num. 1, pp. 1-20.
  34. Clancy, M. J., 2000, “Mexican Tourism: Export Growth and
  35. Structural Change since 1970”, Latin American Research Review,
  36. vol. 36, num 1, pp. 128-150.
  37. Coates, K. S., R. Healy and W. R. Morrison, 2002, “Tracking the
  38. Snowbirds: Seasonal Migration from Canada to the USA and
  39. Mexico”, American Review of Canadian Studies, vol. 32, num.
  40. , pp. 433-452.
  41. Collins, J. L., 2003, Threads: Gender, Labor, and Power in the
  42. Global Apparel Industry, Chicago, Illinois, University of Chicago
  43. Press.
  44. Croucher, S., 2007, “‘They Love Us Here’: American Migrants
  45. in Mexico”, Dissent, Winter. Available at
  46. dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=723> (last accessed on July
  47. , 2009).
  48. Dalsgaard, T., 2000, The Tax System in Mexico: A Need for
  49. Strength ening the Revenue-Raising Capacity, Paris, Organisation
  50. for Economic Co-operation and Development [ECO/
  51. WKP(2000)6. Unclassified].
  52. Davis, M., 2006, “Mexico’s Immigration Problem (Excerpt ed from
  53. no one Is Illegal)”, TomPaine.Com. Available at
  54. tompaine.com/articles/2006/09/25/mexicos_immigration_
  55. problem.php> (last accessed on September 25, 2006).
  56. De Duren, N. L., 2006, “Planning à la carte: The Location Patterns
  57. of Gated Communities around Buenos Aires in a Decentralized
  58. Planning Context”, International Journal of Urban and
  59. Regional Research, vol. 30, num. 2, pp. 308-327.
  60. Dear, M. and A. Burridge, 2005, “Cultural Integration and Hybridization
  61. in the United States-Mexico Borderlands”, Cahiers
  62. de Géographie du Québec, vol. 49, num. 138, pp. 301-318.
  63. Dear, M. J. and G. Leclerc, eds., 2003, Postborder City: Cultural
  64. Spaces of Bajalta California”, New York, Routledge.
  65. Dibble, S., 2002, “Foreigners could Lose Oceanfront Residences
  66. in Mexico; Southern Baja Homes Violating Coastal Law”, The
  67. San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego, California, April 3, p.
  68. B1, 2002.
  69. Dibble, S. and L. Weisberg, 2005, “Baja’s Building Boom”, Copley
  70. News Service, San Diego, California. Available at
  71. signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051002/news_1n2rush.
  72. html> (last accessed on October 3, 2005).
  73. Dove J., 2007, “Tourist Impact on the Yucatán Peninsula”, Geography
  74. Review, vol. 20, num. 5, pp. 2-4.
  75. Enríquez Acosta, J. Á., 2008, “Segregación y fragmentación en las
  76. nuevas ciudades para el turismo: Caso Puerto Peñasco, Sonora,
  77. México”, Topofilia, vol. 1, num. 1. Available at
  78. net/enriquez.html> (last accessed on July 19, 2009).
  79. Everitt, J. et al., 2008, “The Imprints of Tourism on Puerto
  80. Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico”, Canadian Geographer/Le Geographe
  81. Canadien, vol. 52, num. 1, pp. 83-104.
  82. Freeman, L., 2006, There Goes the Hood: Views of Gentrification
  83. from the Ground up, Philadelphia, Temple University Press.
  84. Freeman, L. and F. Braconi, 2004, “Gentrification and Displacement:
  85. New York City in the 1990’s”, Journal of the American
  86. Planning Association, vol. 70, num. 1, pp. 39-52.
  87. Gereffi, G., J. Humphrey and T. Sturgeon, 2005, “The Governance
  88. of Global Value Chains”, Review of International Political
  89. Economy, vol. 12, num. 1, pp. 78-104.
  90. Gullette, G. S., 2007, “Development Economics, Developing Migration:
  91. Targeted Economic Development Initiatives as Drivers
  92. in International Migration”, Human Organization, vol. 66,
  93. num. 4, pp. 366-379.
  94. Hackworth, J., 2002, “Postrecession Gentrification in New York
  95. City”, Urban Affairs Review, vol. 37, num. 6, pp. 815-843.
  96. Hawley, C., 2007, “Seniors Head to Mexico for Cheaper Nursing
  97. Care: Despite Quality Concerns, Prices Prove Appealing”, The
  98. Arizona Republic, August 16.
  99. Herzog, L., 2003, “Global Tijuana: The Seven Ecologies of the
  100. Border”, in M. J. Dear and G. Leclerc, eds., Postborder City:
  101. Cultural Spaces of Bajalta California, New York, Routledge, pp.
  102. -142.
  103. Holder, V. H., 1976, The Migration of Retirees to Mexico, a Survey
  104. and Case Study of Guadalajara, Mexico, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
  105. University of Minnesota.
  106. Holguin, Jaime, 2004, “More Retirees Migrating South: Growing
  107. Stream of Americans Running to Mexico”, CBS Evening
  108. News, Playas de Rosarito, Mexico, May 19, 2004. Available at
  109. <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/19/eveningnews/
  110. main618600.shtml> (last accessed on May 1, 2011).
  111. inegi, 1999, Censos económicos 1999, Aguascalientes, Mexico, Instituto
  112. Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Available at
  113. www.inegi.org.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/proyectos/censos/
  114. ce1999/saic/default.asp?modelo=CMAP&s=est&c=10354>
  115. (last accessed on May 10, 2011).
  116. Inegi, 2001, XII Censo general de población y vivienda 2000, Aguascalientes, Mexico, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
  117. Johnson, R., 2007, “Taking Baja South”, Los Angeles Times,
  118. Los Angeles, October 14. Available at <http://articles.latimes.
  119. com/2007/oct/14/magazine/tm-bajaboom28> (last accessed on
  120. July 19, 2009).
  121. Kincannon, C. L., 2004, “Counting Americans Overseas: Lessons
  122. Learned from the 2004 Overseas Enumeration Test”,
  123. U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. House of Representatives, September
  125. Lizárraga Morales, O., 2008a, “La inmigración de jubilados estadounidenses en México y sus prácticas transnacionales: Estudio
  126. de caso en Mazatlán, Sinaloa y Cabo San Lucas, Baja
  127. California Sur”, Migración y Desarrollo, num. 11, pp. 97-117.
  128. Lizárraga Morales, O., 2008b, “Los inmigrantes estadounidenses
  129. en Mazatlán y Los Cabos”, Arenas: Revista Sinaloense de Ciencias
  130. Sociales, num. 16, pp. 103-115.
  131. Lizárraga Morales, O., 2010, “The U.S. Citizens’ Retirement Migration
  132. to Los Cabos, Mexico”, Recreation and Society in Africa,
  133. Asia, & Latin America (RASALA), vol. 1, num. 1, pp. 75-92.
  134. López-López, A., 2006, “Segregation of Tourist Space in Los Cabos,
  135. Mexico”, Tourism Geographies, vol. 8, num. 4, pp. 359-379.
  136. Lucero, H. M., 2003, “Peopling Baja California”, in M. J. Dear
  137. and G. Leclerc, eds., 2003, Postborder City: Cultural Spaces of
  138. Bajalta California, New York, Routledge.
  139. Migration Policy Institute (mpi), 2006, America’s Emigrants: U.S.
  140. Retirement Migration to Mexico and Panama. Available at
  141. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/americas_emigrants.
  142. php> (last accessed on July 19, 2009).
  143. Newman, K. and E. Wyly, 2006, “The Right to Stay Put, Revisited:
  144. Gentrification and Resistance to Displacement in New
  145. York City”, Urban Studies, vol. 43, num. 1, pp. 23-57.
  146. Otero, Y. and L. Melton, 1997, “U.S. Retired Persons in Mexico”,
  147. American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 40, num. 7, p. 914.
  148. Pender, K., 2007, “Tales of Buying Property South of the Bord -
  149. er”, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California,
  150. November 11. Available at <http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-
  151. -11/business/17268094_1_panama-central-america-healthcare>
  152. (last accessed on July 19, 2009).
  153. Pírez, P., 2002, “Buenos Aires: Fragmentation and Privatization
  154. of the Metropolitan City”, Environment and Urbanization, vol.
  155. , num. 1, April, p. 145.
  156. Plotnicov, L., 1994, “El atractivo de ciudades medias”, Estudios
  157. Demográficos y Urbanos, vol. 9, num. 2, pp. 283-301.
  158. Rodríguez, V. E., 1997, Decentralization in Mexico: From Reforma
  159. Municipal to Solidaridad to Nuevo Federalismo, Boulder,
  160. Colorado, Westview Press.
  161. Roy, A. and N. AlSayyad, 2004, Urban Informality: Transnational
  162. Perspectives from the Middle East, Latin America, and South
  163. Asia, Lanham, Maryland, Lexington Books.
  164. Sadowski-Smith, C., 2002, Globalization on the Line: Culture,
  165. Capital, and Citizenship at U.S. borders, New York, Palgrave
  166. Macmillan.
  167. Smith, N., 1996, The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the
  168. Revanchist City, New York, Routledge.
  169. Smith, N. and P. Williams, 1986, Gentrification of the City, Boston,
  170. Massachusetts, Allen & Unwin.
  171. Steinitz, C. et al., 2005, “Alternative Futures for the Region of
  172. Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico”, report from Harvard
  173. University’s Graduate School of Design/Universidad Autónoma
  174. de Baja California Sur/University of Arizona/cibnor/San
  175. Die go State University/Scripps Institute of Oceanography/Municipality
  176. of Loreto, B. C. S., November 17.
  177. Stokes, E. M., 1990, “Ethnography of a Social Border: The Case
  178. of an American Retirement Community in Mexico”, Journal of
  179. Cross-Cultural Gerontology, vol. 5, num. 2, pp. 169-182.
  180. Sunil, T. S., V. Rojas and D. E. Bradley, 2007, “United States’
  181. International Retirement Migration: The Reasons for Retiring
  182. to the Environs of Lake Chapala, Mexico”, Ageing and Society,
  183. vol. 27, num. 04, pp. 489-510.
  184. Svampa, M., 2001, Los que ganaron. La vida en los countries y barrios
  185. privados, Buenos Aires, Biblos.
  186. Tamborini, C. R., 2007, “Work, Wages and Gender in Export-
  187. Oriented Cities: Global Assembly versus International Tourism
  188. in Mexico”, Bulletin of Latin American Research, vol. 26, num.
  189. , pp. 24-49.
  190. Torres R. and J. Momsen, 2005a, “Planned Tourism Development
  191. in Quintana Roo, Mexico: Engine for Regional Development
  192. or Prescription for Inequitable Growth?”, Current Issues
  193. in Tourism, vol. 8, num. 4, pp. 259-285.
  194. Torres R. and J. Momsen, 2005b, “Gringolandia: The Construction
  195. of a New Tourist Space in Mexico”, Annals of the Association
  196. of American Geographers, vol. 95, num. 2, pp. 314-335.
  197. Truly, D., 2002, “International Retirement Migration and Tourism
  198. along the Lake Chapala Riviera: Developing a Matrix of
  199. Retirement Migration Behaviour”, Tourism Geographies, vol. 4,
  200. num. 3, pp. 261-281.
  201. U.S. Census Bureau, 2006, American Community Survey. Available
  202. at (last accessed on November
  203. , 2007).
  204. Ward, P. M., 2004, “Informality of Housing Production at the
  205. Urban-Rural Interface: The Not-so-Strange Case of the Texas
  206. Colonias”, in R. Ananya and N. AlSayyad, eds., Urban Informality:
  207. Transnational Perspectives from the Middle East, Latin
  208. America, and South Asia, Lanham, Maryland, Lexington
  209. Books, pp. 243-270.
  210. Warner, D. C. and L. R. Jahnke, 2001, “Toward Better Access to
  211. Health Insurance Coverage for U.S. Retirees in Mexico”, Salud
  212. Pública de México, vol. 43, num. 1, pp. 59-66.
  213. Warnes, A. M., 2001, “The International Dispersal of Pensioners
  214. from Affluent Countries”, International Journal of Population
  215. Geography, vol. 7, num 5, pp. 373-388.
  216. Wilson, T. D., 2008, “Economic and Social Impacts of Tourism
  217. in Mexico”, Latin American Perspectives, vol. 35, num. 3, p. 37.