Mexican Families in North Carolina: The Socio-historical Contexts of Exit and Settlement

Utilizing existing research and survey-based data from several studies, this article places the growth of the Mexican origin population in North Carolina in context and shows how it emerged out of historical, social, and economic connections between the U.S. and Mexico. During the 1990s, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the privatization of the Mexican ejido system promoted the migration of Mexicans to the U.S. Changes in the ease and cost of migration due to the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA86) helped to sustain this flow of immigrants and led them to settle more permanently in the U.S. during the 1990s. IRCA86’s effect on the supply of low-skilled workers in historical gateways states and the rise of anti-immigrant hostility in these states also helped to redirect Mexican migration flows to emerging gateway states. Finally, historical labor market connections between Mexico and the U.S. South, active recruitment of Mexican agricultural workers, and manufacturers’ courtships of Mexican laborers help to explain the settlement of immigrants in North Carolina during the 1990s and 2000s.