Mexicans and Jews, There and Here

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Around 1980, there was a drastic increase in the number of both documented and undocumented Mexicans entering the United States, from 100,000 to nearly 1,000,000 within the short span of a year. This massive migration continues today, and the primary reason for it is the disparity between the quality of life above and below the Rio Grande. Most Mexicans come from poverty-stricken towns, and are looking to realize the "American dream." Even those living and working in Mexico's largest cities, such as Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City, are not immune to this desire. When the average wage in Mexico is about $4.16 an hour, and even lower in the agricultural industry, this is understandable. A staggering 40% of the total population currently lives below the American poverty line.

Most of the Mexican immigrants to New York City come from rural areas near Mexico City, such as the State of Puebla, a prominent industrial and commercial region located southeast of it. It is estimated that between 60 and 80 percent of all Mexican migrants to New York City originate in Puebla, or in other states, including Guerrero, Jalisco, and Michoacan.

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According the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2000, there are 9,177,485 Mexican immigrants in the United States. Shortly after the massive influx of Mexican workers in the 1980s, the flow to New York City became denser. Mexicans had the highest rate of population growth of any ethnic group in New York City during the 1990s. The concentration of Mexicans in the city has more than tripled, from 61,772 in 1990 to 186,872 in 2000. This rivals the size of long-standing Mexican communities in California like San Diego, Santa Ana, and San Jose. However, the Census data likely substantially underestimated the number of immigrants in New York. More inclusive estimates place this immigrant population in the range of 275,000 to 300,000. Asociacion Tepeyac goes as far as to estimate that there are more than 500,000 Mexicans in New York City, and more than 1 million in the tri-state area. Mexicans currently constitute the third largest Hispanic/Latino group in New York, after Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.

 In the map above, note the concentration of Mexicans in areas like Corona and Elmhurst, Queens and Sunset Park and Kensington, Brooklyn (U.S. Census Bureau).

Immigration is the largest cause of Mexican population growth in New York City. Close to 80 percent of Mexicans living in New York were born outside of the United States. Both legal and undocumented migration to New York increased in the 1980s and 1990s, uniform with the rest of the nation. However, this was also the beginning of a more geographically diverse dispersal of Mexican immigrants. New York's Mexican population is beginning to rival that of other regions despite its considerable distance from the southern border.

New York's high cost of living forces the majority of Mexican immigrants to live segregated in regions, such as the Bronx. Many migrant workers also have to support family in their native country, and often send hundreds of dollars back every week. This makes it even more difficult for them to advance in the United States. The average per-capita income of the Mexican population is among the lowest in New York City. The mean household income per-capita of Mexicans is $10,231, or less than half the prevailing average of $22,402 for all New Yorkers in 1999. Close to one third of Mexicans lived in households that were under the poverty line in 2000, more than double the poverty rate in the city overall. This can be broken down into 654,455 families, 162,135 single mothers, and 2,398,585 individuals.

In the chart above, Mexicans are represented by the color red. While in 1970 they were barely perceptible, over the decades, the amount of Mexicans in New York City has increased considerably (Lobo Mexicans).

 The graph above shows how the number of Mexican immigrants has increased fifteen-fold since 1980 (Lobo Mexicans).

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