Missing in Action: Mass Male Migration and Mexican Communities

On the playground at Zaragoza Elementary School in CholuIa, Mexico, the teacher stopped answering questions and started asking them. When I started teaching these students, all between the ages of nine and twelve, they bombarded me with como se dices and asked how to swear in English. But soon recess

time became sharing time as they told me their family histories. "I have a brother in Florida," one said, followed by another girl who echoed a similar story, except it was her father who was in the United States. Wanting to hear more, I asked her if she has gone to visit him. "Nope, but I hope to soon," she replied. Finally, I asked her when she had last seen her father, but she could not recall their last time together. This conversation piqued my interest, so I talked to more children to see if it was an isolated incident. What I learned was incredible: most of the students had at least one male relative in the States.

That comment gave me pause, but I did not give it further thought until reading "Inside the Life of the Migrants Next Door," an article in Ttme magazine. In the article, Mexicans in New York were questioning the worth of their journey to the United States. The article uncovered several social costs for these immigrants and challenges they faced on the road to a better life for themselves and their family. These challenges could be serious barriers to Mexico's development. Hence the question: do the benefits of the mass male migration from communities in Mexico to the United States outweigh the social cost of their absence? One key factor in answering that question is determining what the impact of the migration of male family members is on the upbringing of the next generation.