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Mexican Immigration (1936-2003)

HISTORY

Mexican Immigration (1936-2003)

By John P. Schmal

Special to HispanicVista

In the year 1936, 141,265 aliens were naturalized as American citizens.  Of this number, 623 citizens of Mexico renounced their allegiance to the Mexican Republic to become American citizens, representing only 0.44% of the total number of naturalized citizens during that year.  In contrast, the following countries made the largest contribution to persons naturalized: 

The British Empire (42,231)

Germany (19,622)

Italy (17,781)

Poland (14,745)

The Soviet Union (3,525).

The coming of war to Europe during 1939 to 1940 led to increased immigration from European nations and it was these aliens who were most likely to seek naturalization. In 1940, the nations contributing the most naturalizations were: 

The British Empire (59,680)

Italy (37,357)

Poland (26,964)

Germany (25,802)

Soviet Union (15,598).

By 1940, the number of Mexicans who were naturalized rose slightly to 2,669, or 1.13% of all naturalizations.  In contrast, a large number of Mexicans had registered as aliens.  In response to the threat of war, the United States had launched the Alien Registration Program in July of 1940. Pursuant to the Alien Registration Act of that year, every alien resident in the United States had to register at their local Post Office while aliens entering the country registered as they applied for admission. Alien Registration requirements applied to all aliens over the age of fourteen, regardless of nationality and regardless of immigration status.  As of December 31, 1940, 423,519 aliens from Mexico were registered under the Alien Registration Act.

Below is a table indicating the number of Mexicans who were naturalized in each year from 1936 to 1950. The three peak years for naturalizations were war years (1943, 1944, 1945), after which naturalizations of Mexican nationals decreased dramatically.

	Mexican Aliens Naturalized	Mexican Aliens Naturalized as a Percentage of the Total	Total Persons Naturalized in the United States
1936	623	0.44%	141,265
1937	903	0.55%	164,976
1938	1,082	0.67%	162,078
1939	1,643	0.87%	188,813
1940	2,669	1.13%	235,260
1941	3,757	1.35%	277,294
1942	4,300	1.59%	270,364
1943	6,799	2.13%	318,933
1944	7,474	1.69%	441,979
1945	6,352	2.75%	231,402
1946	5,135	3.42%	150,062
1947	3,336	3.55%	93,904
1948	1,895	2.70%	70,150
1949	2,227	3.34%	66,594
1950	2,323	3.50%	66,346

In 1950, the number of Mexicans seeking American citizenship remained relatively small, making up only 3.5% of all naturalizations.  However, among all the contributing nations, Mexico was in seventh place as the native land of persons who were naturalized in that year:

British Empire (12,829)

Italy (8,301)

Germany (6,065)

Canada (5,882)

Poland (3,793)

Philippines (3,257)

Mexico (2,323)

During the following decade, Mexican naturalizations increased significantly.  Part of this increase may have been the result of the Bracero Program, which brought many Mexicans into the country as guest workers.  Some Braceros eventually became citizens.  Another factor in increased naturalizations may have been the Border Patrol’s “Operation Wetback,” which had commenced in June 1954.  It is possible that some Mexican nationals became citizens as a means of avoiding deportation. A table illustrating the Mexican naturalizations from 1951 to 1960 follows:

	Mexican Aliens Naturalized	Mexican Aliens Naturalized as a Percentage of the Total	Total Persons Naturalized in the United States
1951	1,969	3.60%	54,716
1952	2,496	2.82%	88,655
1953	2,728	3.96%	92,051
1954	3,710	2.09%	177,831
1955	10,166	4.85%	209,526
1956	6,958	4.77%	145,885
1957	5,541	4.01%	138,063
1958	5,042	4.21%	119,866
1959	5,147	4.95%	103,931
1960	5,913	4.95%	119,442

 By 1960, the annual number of Mexicans receiving naturalization had more than doubled from a decade earlier.  In that year, the countries that contributed the most naturalized citizens to the U.S. were:

Germany (19,003)

Italy (14,560)

United Kingdom (11,303)

Canada (10,215)

Poland (8,021)

Mexico (5,913)

Japan (4,189)

From 1962 to 1970, the naturalization of Mexican nationals fluctuated between 5,000 and 7,000, after dropping significantly from 1961 and 1962. The following table illustrates the naturalizations of Mexicans from 1961 to 1970:

	Mexican Aliens Naturalized	Mexican Aliens Naturalized as a Percentage of the Total	Total Persons Naturalized in the United States
1961	8,405	6.35%	132,450
1962	7,205	5.66%	127,307
1963	5,285	4.26%	124,178
1964	5,213	4.64%	112,234
1965	5,080	4.87%	104,299
1966	5,677	5.15%	103,059
1967	6,044	5.76%	104,902
1968	6,134	5.97%	102,726
1969	5,111	5.18%	98,709
1970	6,195	5.61%	110,399

In 1970, the number of Mexicans who received naturalization was 6,195. In that year, the countries that contributed the most naturalized citizens to the U.S. were:

Cuba (20,888)

Germany (10,067)

Italy (7,892)

United Kingdom (7,549)

Canada (6,387)

Mexico (6,195)

Philippines (5,669)

Poland (3,426)

China and Taiwan (3,090)

Greece (2,906)

During the 1970s and 1980s, Mexican naturalizations began a steady increase, as illustrated in the following table:

Year	Mexican Aliens Naturalized	Mexican Aliens Naturalized as a Percentage of the Total	Total Persons Naturalized in the United States
1971	6,361	5.87%	108,407
1972	5,850	5.03%	116,215
1973	5,507	4.56%	120,740
1974	5,206	3.96%	131,455
1975	5,781	4.08%	141,537
1976	5,602	3.93%	142,504
3rd Quarter, 1976	1,505	3.12%	48,218
1977	6,301	3.94%	159,873
1978	8,662	4.99%	173,535
1979	8,046	4.90%	164,150
1980	9,341	5.91%	157,938
1981	9,545	5.74%	166,317
1982	11,423	6.58%	173,688
1983	12,594	7.04%	178,948
1984	14,575	7.40%	197,023
1985	23,042	9.42%	244,717
1986	27,087	9.65%	280,623
1987	21,999	9.69%	227,008
1988	22,085	9.12%	242,063
1989	18,520	7.92%	233,777
1990	17,564	6.50%	270,101

The devaluation of the Mexican peso in 1982 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act Amnesty of 1986 played a significant role in the dramatic rise in Mexican naturalizations that started in 1982. At this point, there was a very noticeable shift in the countries contributing new citizens to the U.S. Fewer Europeans were arriving in the U.S. and seeking naturalization, while large numbers of immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia were seeking citizenship.  In 1987, the countries contributing the largest numbers of immigrants were:

Mexico (27,807)

Vietnam (25,469)

Philippines (25,296)

Korea (14,233)

Cuba (13,818)

Mainland China (9,208)

India (8,659)

Soviet Union (7,276)

United Kingdom (7,102)

Jamaica (6,563)

During the 1990s, Mexican naturalizations increased even more dramatically, in large part because of the 1994 financial crisis in Mexico and the reaction to Proposition 187 in California.  In addition, many of the people who were granted amnesty during the 1980s were now fulfilling their final requirements for citizenship, leading to a steep increase of naturalization petitions in 1996.

Year	Mexican Aliens Naturalized	Mexican Aliens Naturalized as a Percentage of the Total	Total Persons Naturalized in the United States
1991	22,066	7.16%	308,058
1992	12,873	5.36%	240,252
1993	23,615	7.50%	314,681
1994	46,169	11.33%	407,398
1995	81,655	16.73%	488,088
1996	254,988	24.41%	1,044,689
1997	142,569	23.83%	598,225
1998	112,442	24.28%	463,060
1999	207,750	24.73%	839,944
2000	189,705	21.34%	888,788

In 2000, the countries contributing the largest numbers of immigrants were:

Mexico (189,705)

Vietnam (55,934)

China (54,534)

Philippines (46,563)

India (42,198)

Dominican Republic (25,176)

El Salvador (24,073)

Korea (23,858)

Jamaica (22,567)

Ukraine (16,849)

Poland (16,405)

Russia (12,919)

The following table illustrates Mexican immigration in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but also provides the total number of Mexican nationals who were naturalized from 1936 to 2003. With the increased pace of naturalizations in the later decades, Mexican aliens seeking citizenship had come to represent more than one-tenth of all immigrants. 

	Mexican Aliens Naturalized	Mexican Aliens Naturalized as a Percentage of the Total	Total Persons Naturalized in the United States
2001	103,234	16.97%	608,205
2002	76,531	13.24%	573,708
2003	56,093	12.11%	463,204
Total Naturalizations, 1936-2003	1,736,823	10.76%	16,143,596

 

Sources:  Immigration and Naturalization and Homeland Securities Annual Statistical Reports.

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Copyright © 2006 by John P. Schmal. All Rights Reserved.

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John Schmal was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.  He attended Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he studied Geography, History and Earth Sciences and received two BA degrees.  Mr. Schmal has been a life-long history buff and is also a skilled genealogist. His genealogical specialties including tracing lineages in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Southwestern U.S.A.  He is the coauthor of "Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico" (Heritage Books, 2002).  He has also coauthored three other books on Mexican-American themes, all of them published by Heritage Books in Maryland. He is an Associate Editor of www.somosprimos.com and a board member of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR). Presently, in addition to writing weekly columns for HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com),  he is writing a book on the indigenous peoples of Mexico and on the ports of entry along the Mexican-US border.  Mr. Schmal has a passionate love of Mexican history and has been writing short histories of each state, which are being compiled at the following link:
http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/states.html

 

© Copyright 2005, by John P. Schmal.