Spatial and sociodemographic reconfigurations of the Chiapaneca migrations to the United States (2009-2016)

Abstract

During the historical context of the Barack Obama administration and due to the US economic crisis (2008), this article argues that there were spatial and sociodemographic reconfigurations of undocumented migrations from Chiapas to the United States (2009-2016). Based on the review of the Emif Norte (Survey on Migration on the Northern Border), and data on the reception of remittances and Mexicans returned by the US immigration authorities, this text argues that the spatial and sociodemographic changes of these migrations implied dynamics of decreasing demographic volume of migrants, reduction in the reception of remittances, transformations of the places of origin and destination, and changes in the places and costs of border crossings. However, there were also processes of continuity in certain places of origin and destination, and in the profile and employment history of migrants. The contribution of the work is to show the Chiapas migrations as non-static socio-historical constructions and with differentiated spatial dynamics.