Abstract

CANALES, Alejandro I.  and  MEZA, Sofía. Trends and patterns of return migration in Mexico. Migr. desarro [online]. 2018, vol.16, n.30, pp.123-155. ISSN 1870-7599.

In this paper we offer an analysis of the nature, volume and patterns of return migration in Mexico, comparing them across three distinct moments: i) before the economic crisis and during the great boom in emigration to the United States; ii) during the economic crisis and periods of increased strengthening of anti-immigrant policies, and which resulted in a temporary collapse of Mexican migration; and iii) the later stage of economic crisis, and within a context of a moderate resumption of Mexican emigration to the United States. We discuss whether the growth of return migration at the end of the last decade was only a circumstantial phenomenon, the product of particular circumstances, or on the contrary, that it implied a change in the nature and pattern of return migration, that although the volume was reduced, its continuance represents an emerging phenomenon whose implications and consequences are still not clearly defined.

Keywords : return migration; economic crisis; households; regions; Mexico.