Beginning in 2009, after the recession that hit the world economy, net migration between Mexico and the United States slowed to about zero: the number of Mexicans returning to Mexico is practically equal to the number of people who decide to emigrate.
According to the INEGI National Survey of Demographic Dynamics (ENADID), between 2009 and 2014, about 1 million Mexicans and their families returned to Mexico from the U.S. According to the U.S. census, more than 870,000 people entered the country from the Mexico in the same period.
Given this context, the Mexican government (Interior and Foreign Ministries) have launched the "We Are Mexicans: The Door Is Open to You Here" program.
The goal of the program is help Mexican returnees with their social reintegration into Mexico and to strengthen their social and cultural ties, so that their return is dignified, productive and beneficial to their families’ welfare and to regional and national development.
Both ministries will work to:
- Optimize inter-agency cooperation for returnees
- Strengthen the impact of the various assistance programs in place for returnees, as well as other crosscutting programs, depending on the needs of the receiving or destination locations.
- Facilitate access of Mexican returnee to assistance programs.
- Create a database for the returnees that includes their education, job skills, family and identity—within the legislation on transparency and access to information—in order to determine their needs and propose programs for their comprehensive care.
- Provide those repatriated to Mexico with care and protection from a human rights and gender perspective, taking into account the best interests of the children and giving special attention to vulnerable groups.