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Published in final edited form as: Psychol Men Masc. 2017 Apr 17;19(3):385–391. doi: 10.1037/men0000106

Return-Migration to Mexico and the Gendered Transnational Migration Process

Nalini Junko Negi 1,*, Julia Clark Prickett 2, Adrianna Marie Overdorff 3, Jamie Roberts 4, Rich Furman 5
PMCID: PMC6178973  NIHMSID: NIHMS856676  PMID: 30319314

Abstract

The Mexico-USA border is one of the most active borders in the world with many migrant men traveling to the United States to serve as “breadwinners” for their families. Yet knowledge within psychology is limited regarding how Latino migrants’ masculine identities may be shaped within the migration context as a vast majority of studies are set within the United States. This gap in the literature continues to exist despite many Latino migrant men’s engagement in transnational lifestyles involving multiple migrations between their country of origin and the United States. A more complete investigation of all phases of the migration journey, including return-migration, is then vital in the understanding of migrant men’s experiences. Guided by gender strain theory and transnational conceptual frameworks, we used case study methodology to examine masculinity among return-migrants in Petlalcingo, Mexico to understand how migration-related life events relate to masculinity by identifying key moments and turning points within their migration process, such as: the decision to migrate, the migration journey, adjustment and acculturation in a new country and return-migration. Findings elucidate a gendered migration process as well as key variables that can be utilized in the development of larger binational studies examining masculinity and migration.

Keywords: Latino migrants, Latino trasnational migrants, transmigrants, migrant men, returnmigration

The Mexico-US border is one of the most dynamic borders in the world as it separates a developing nation from one of the richest countries in the world. Many who cross this border are men who travel to the United States to work in the informal market (Gonzalez-Barrera & Lopez, 2013; Valenzuela, Theodore, Melendez, & Gonzalez, 2006). These Latino migrant men often serve as breadwinners for their families and deal with multiple stressors in this role including family-separation, workers’ rights abuses, wage theft (i.e., non-payment for work rendered), lack of employment opportunities, and injury that act as barriers towards optimal fulfillment of their desire to support family (Negi, 2011; Worby & Organista, 2013). Accordingly, Latino migrant men are likely to face significant structural and economic disadvantages in both counties (Durand, Massey, & Pren, 2016). Despite these significant barriers, knowledge within psychology is limited regarding how Latino migrants’ masculine identities may be shaped through migration to the United States (Drachman & Paulino, 2004). This is a meaningful gap as there are major political, economic, social and cultural differences in between Mexico-USA that may influence the migration experiences and gendered practices of transnational migrant men (Sadowski-Smith, 2002). For example, worldview differences, including those based in Mexican collectivist cultural values that entail mutual empathy and deference to the collective over individual interests may be contested or renegotiated as transnational migrants are exposed to American cultural values of individualism (Smith-Morris, Morales-Campos, Alvarez & Turner, 2012) and then re-exposed to Mexican cultural norms upon return to country of origin. Differences in social position from citizen in Mexico to undocumented immigrant in the United States may further impact notions of identity and lead to the production of an altered masculine identity. Thus, a more complete examination of all phases of the migration journey, including return migration (return to country of origin from country of migration), may better encapsulate transnational migrant men’s experiences through the acknowledgement that these men’s lives are part of “a wider contemporary condition in which binarisms and essentialisms are replaced by hybridity, dislocation and multiplicity” (Osella & Osella, 2000, p.117). This exploratory case study extends the literature by investigating Latino migrant men’s masculinity in the context of return-migration. Our focus on return-migration contributes to expanding the literature within the psychology of men and masculinity as there is a scarcity of research exploring Latino masculinity upon migrants’ return to their country of origin despite engagement in transnational lifestyles involving multiple migrations between their country of origin and the United States (Prickett, Negi & Martinez Gómez, 2012; Vaquera & Aranda, 2011).

The saliency of examining masculinity among Latino men has been well-established as gender varies by social context and culture (Levant et al., 2003; Ojeda & Liang, 2014) with racial/ethnic minority men experiencing discrimination based on the concurrent impact of gender and race or gendered racism (Iwamoto & Liu, 2009; Liang, Salcedo & Miller, 2011). This may be especially significant among undocumented Latino migrant men who may experience a lack of gender role fulfillment or gender strain (Levant, 2011) due to structural barriers and workers’ rights abuses (Negi, 2013). This gender strain could be especially salient as some evidence suggests that masculinity, including both aspects of positive and negative masculinity, is related to Latino migrant men’s self-esteem (Ojeda & Piña-Watson, 2014). While there is an emerging body of research on Latino immigrant masculinity (Arciniega, Anderson, Tovar-Blank, & Tracey, 2008; Ojeda & Piña-Watson, 2014; Walter, Bourgois & Loinaz, 2004), few have focused on the process of migration itself as a salient variable and even fewer have explored return-migration.

To our knowledge, only one article has examined the gendered process of Mexican men’s migration by qualitatively exploring how rural men negotiate hegemonic masculinity in the face of economic dislocation and pressure to migrate (Broughton, 2008). Broughton elucidates these gendered responses through the development of a typology of fluid gendered stances related to the decision to migrate to the United States, including: traditionalist (oriented towards hegemonic masculinity), adventurer (oriented towards individual achievement), and breadwinner (oriented towards family responsibility). The current study expands upon Broughton’s findings by focusing on key moments and turning points within the transnational journey to understand how migration related life events relate to masculinity within the migration process.

Guided by the gender strain paradigm (Levant, 2011) and transnational conceptual frameworks (Gaurnizo, 1997; Glick Schiller, Basch, & Szanton Blanc, 1995), the current study used case study to examine masculinity among return-migrants in Petlalcingo, Mexico. As the transnational nature of migrants’ experiences becomes increasingly recognized (Alcantara, Molina & Kawachi, 2015), the implications of such a journey on masculinity is needed. To this end, this study advances the literature by clarifying migrant men’s social decisions and exposure to risk factors within the process of transmigration. The return-migration context is further significant within such an analysis as it allows for deeper insights regarding all aspects of the migration journey and extends the literature beyond an understanding of receiving country experiences. This study’s exploratory findings also have the potential to elucidate key theoretically-relevant variables that can be utilized in the development of a larger transnational study examining masculinity and migration.

Theoretical Framework

This study was informed by the gender strain paradigm (Levant, 2011) and transnational conceptual frameworks (Gaurnizo, 1997; Glick Schiller et al., 1995) as the use of these theoretical perspectives allows for a more integrated understanding of the dynamic interplay between migration and masculinity. Masculinity, within the gender role strain paradigm is viewed as socially and psychologically constructed and maintained by social structural factors. Within this postulation, masculinity is not static but ever changing in accordance to social experience and influenced by contemporary gender norms (beliefs about appropriate roles for men and women) that are “contradictory and inconsistent” (Levant, 2011, p.767). Gender role violations are high among all men but may be particularly heightened for men of color who experience racism and discrimination (Liang et al., 2011). For undocumented migrant men in the United States who are often “treated as a reserve of flexible labor, outside the protection of labor safety, health, and minimum wage and other standards, and are easily deportable”(Taran, 2000, p.7) – gender strain may be especially significant.

The rise of transnational migration has been largely attributed to the deterioration of social and economic conditions in both countries of origin and settlement as well as experiences of discrimination and racism in the receiving country (United States) (Glick Schiller et al., 1995). While women are increasingly migrating from Mexico to the United States for employment opportunities (Dimmitt Gnam, 2013), Mexican men continue to comprise a significantly larger proportion of migrants perhaps due to the cultural context of patriarchy and gendered expectations that men fulfill the provider role (Nobles & McKelvey, 2015). Men may comprise an even larger proportion of undocumented transnational migrants (those who engage in multiple migrations between receiving country and country of origin) as the migration journey is particularly hazardous for women (Negi & Furman, 2009). For those men involved in transnational migration, the social status experienced within each national context (undocumented migrant in the United States and return-migrant within Mexico) may confer different masculine identities and associated gender strain. Specifically, wealth accumulation in the United States or accumulation of materials objects, may allow for increased social status (change in social position) for the return-migrant and relatedly, a new masculine identity that may experience gender strain differently than when in the United States (Osella & Osella, 2000). The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate Latino transnational migrant men’s masculinity in the context of return-migration by focusing on key moments and turning points within the transnational journey.

Method

Procedures and Participants

Case study methods were utilized to explore return-migration through the context of Petlalcingo, Mexico, a small town of 2,621 habitants located in the southern state of Puebla (INEGI, 2010). Efforts to build researcher legitimacy, comfort, presence and visibility were implemented as such strategies have been recommended in research with “hard-to-reach” populations (stigmatized and under-researched populations) on sensitive topics (i.e. undocumented immigration) (Valdez & Kaplan, 1999). A key informant with approximately a decade of experience working with the community was identified through professional contacts. This key informant identified a “gatekeeper” from Petlalcingo who helped foster trust between researchers and participants as well as served as an entry point for the snowball sample (Sifaneck & Neaigus, 2001). Field visits to observe daily life were conducted in community churches, market, agricultural sites, homes, and administrative buildings. Data sources included participant observation, ethnographic informal interviews and in-depth qualitative interviews with a sub-sample of transnational migrants. To be eligible for the study, participants had to be 18 years or older and had to have lived in the United States for at least one year. All informed consent materials were reviewed, questions answered, and verbal rather than written informed consent was obtained to further protect against a breach of confidentiality. No incentives were provided.

Life history interviews were conducted in Spanish using a semi-structured interview guide and lasted between thirty minutes to one hour. The open-ended questions aimed to solicit information regarding participants’ migration related decisions and experiences. For example, the interview protocol included prompts and questions such as: “Tell me about your experience traveling to the United States”; “Why did you decide to return to Mexico from the United States?” All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.

In-depth field notes were maintained by the field interviewer all throughout the data collection process and served as an important way to monitor reflexivity, subjectivity, and countertransference (Gemignani, 2011). As a white, American, non-native Spanish speaking woman, it was critical for the field interviewer to be aware of her emotional reactions to both the participants and the investigation itself (Dickson-Swift, James, Kippen, & Liamputtong, 2009). In addition to field notes, discussions with the key informant regarding her positionality as well as its influence within the interview dynamic (i.e., a white American asking Mexican men about their migration process as undocumented migrants to the U.S.) was important in facilitating reflexive analysis, critical engagement and stronger rapport with the study population.

Interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of six men ranging in age from 29–41, with a mean age of 27 years. Five of the participants had traveled back and forth to the U.S. twice with a range of time in the U.S. from 1–12 years and an average of 6 years. All participants had some family living in the U.S., and four lived with family members while there. Every participant traveled to the United States without immigration documentation, and five worked in restaurants, while one worked in a factory and in construction while in the U.S. Two of the participants had a wife and children in Petlalcingo during their migration.

All study procedures were approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Data Analysis

Drawing from multiple sources of data, the case study provides thick description regarding the contextual features in which individuals make decisions (Baxter & Jack, 2008). A team approach was utilized to analyze the data using thematic analysis. Three graduate students and two professors were involved in the study. Research assistants were trained by the PI in qualitative methods. All transcripts were read and categories were developed, guided by the gender strain paradigm and transnational conceptual frameworks. Categories were discussed at length and resulted in the following: the pull to migrate, the difficulty of migrating, life in the United States and the return to Mexico. Themes, with focus on identifying key turning points defined as a transitory period that redirects a person’s life path (Abbott, 1997), were extracted within each broad category. Data that was not reflective of the entire sample was discarded. Consensual process, an element of Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR), was used to capture the complexity of the data by sharing varying perspectives and opinions by the research team and helped decrease researcher bias (Hill, Thompson, & Nutt Williams, 1997). Consensus based on discussion was developed regarding emergent themes. Disagreements regarding emergent themes were resolved through the use of a social science researcher, outside of the primary research team, who provided feedback and served as a check to the research team’s judgement. This feedback was then reviewed and decisions whether to accept or reject were consensually made. The final step involved line-by-line coding employing four themes, including: 1) making the decision to migrate; 2) the migration journey; 3) adjustment and acculturation; and 4) return migration. Final coded results were reviewed and discussed until consensus was achieved. Throughout this reiterative process and consensus based approach the goal was to reduce the influence of researcher bias in the identification of common themes across participants without losing individual meanings and experiences (Creswell, 2007). All data was analyzed in source language and quotations were translated and back-translated to maximize the validity of findings (Lopez, Figueroa, Connor, & Maliski, 2008).

Although small, the sample size is appropriate for this type of exploratory case study (Creswell, 2007) as it aimed to elucidate the lived experiences of the participants, rather than generalize to the larger transnational migrant population. Further, there is some evidence that indicates that samples as small as those consisting of four participants can yield complete information regarding a specific cultural context if participants share a high degree of expertise in the phenomenon being studied (migration and masculinity) (Romney, Batchelder & Weller, 1986). Our use of a structured interview protocol and our narrow aim to understand the common experiences of male Mexican transnational migrants within the return-migrant context with a sample of homogenous participants (male return-migrants who have returned from the United States back to their community of origin, Petlalcingo) allowed us to tap into commonly shared experiences and perceptions and thereby, reach saturation, or the stage where no novel information is found in the data (Guest, Bunce & Johnson, 2006).

Results

Making the Decision to Migrate

Petlalcingo is characterized by a high index of migration intensity (Vértiz, 2014) whereby, it is estimated, that in a family of six to eight members, four leave Petlalcingo to seek economic opportunities elsewhere (Nava & Oropeza, 1999). The high levels of migration present in the town mean that the men have been in regular contact with someone close to them who has migrated to the United States, and the connection between wealth and migration is made clear at a young age. The larger homes typically mark the presence of at least one migrant family member and highlight the influence of migrant remittances on a family’s wealth and social standing in the community. Although the journey to the United States is viewed as dangerous, the rewards from this risk are tangible (i.e., material wealth accumulation) and serve as consistent reminders in this town. Further, places with such high levels of out-migration have been found to develop a culture where migration and sending remittances to support family become normative expectations (Curran & Saguy, 2001).

The decision to migrate to the United States often coincides with a developmentally important milestone in young people’s lives: graduation from high school. As the young men graduate high school and transition from “boy” to “man” they are confronted by the lack of employment opportunities in Mexico, and the appeal of the United States heightens. A single 29 year old man who first migrated to the United States when he was 18 years old stated, “When we [men] finish high school we decide to go there [the U.S.] for more than anything a better life. For the family and for yourself.” To this end, the participants decided to migrate for complex reasons, primarily supporting their families but also to improve their own social conditions and build better opportunities for themselves. As a young migrant male indicated, “To think about starting a family...I wanted something...money, even if it was just a room to live in with my family.” Most of the men conceptualized migration as a temporary transition in their lives that would allow them to fulfill a better quality of life in their country of origin. Thus, when confronted with an inability to fulfill the bread winner role in Petlalcingo, these men looked to the success of male role models (nearly exclusively return-migrants) in the community and made the decision to seek opportunity in the United States.

The Migration Journey

The border was conceptualized by many as a dangerous space and the process of migrating was initially viewed as full of uncertainty. The migration process involved hiring a coyote who would serve as a paid guide across the border. The coyote was someone that was unknown to the participants before their migration; however, they had to trust them, in many ways, with their lives. One participant stated:

To cross the border is the most difficult because many people are abandoned…not knowing what is going to happen on the road, that is the most difficult ...How were you going to get across? What was going to happen to you?

This uncertainty as well as the physical danger of crossing the border or being apprehended by Border Patrol was reported as being incredibly stressful.

The border itself was viewed as an alienating space that decontextualized the migrant from their identity. In many ways, the passage through the border was viewed as an important transition away from a migrant’s old identity to a newer more marginalized one. One participant related the experience of alienation to the possibility of being abandoned to die in the desert:

Well it’s that over there, on the border, a person is worth nothing. Really, no one knows the life of an immigrant. If he dies, well, “Who knows him?”

Adjustment and Acculturation

Most migrants from Petlalcingo followed their social networks to Southern California and New York City and found work in construction, restaurants, cleaning, textile industry, gardening, or meatpacking (Martínez Gómez, 2007). Once in the United States, participants identified a deep conflict between the benefits of steady employment and adjusting to challenging new circumstances. The ability to earn income and send remittances to family in Mexico was discussed in context with the stress of holding multiple demanding jobs in the restaurant industry and service sector, enduring long working hours, while navigating the workplace with limited English language proficiency.

We are in another country that we’ve never been to, we didn’t speak English, no nothing…. we missed Mexico a lot… And I had to work day in, day out, day in...that was the most difficult part.

While work could be a source of stress, it was also viewed as an important source of well-being.

In a difficult moment, you have to go to work and that work clears your mind…This more than anything makes you overcome so your family can have a better future, better prospects.

Work provided the men with feelings of autonomy and gender-role fulfillment (i.e., breadwinner) but simultaneously operated to alienate them from mainstream U.S. society. Participants relayed feeling secluded into the margins of the labor market as a newly arrived undocumented immigrant worker in the United States.

Return Migration

While the desire to support family was the most important factor in participants’ decisions to leave Mexico, missing the emotional support of family was an important factor in their decision to return. One participant relayed:

In the United States, I have money, I have clothes, I have a car, I practically have everything. Working, obviously. But I don’t have the affection of my mother, my grandmother, my relatives…If I go there (to the US), I have money but I don’t have affection.

However, many found their identity altered as a consequence of migration and reported that their return-migration was more emotionally complicated than expected. Although many reported initially receiving the higher social standing that is associated with return-migration, eventually many felt disappointed. One migrant who had lived in the United States for four years and had returned to Mexico four years prior to the interview, explained, “…when one adapts to the way of life over there (in the United States), well you’re already different.” Participants indicated that their sense of “home” had changed and returning to Petlalcingo often did not meet their expectations. One migrant stated:

You come and you no longer are accustomed. Well there is no work here, and I came and my friends that I had before were no longer here.

The prestige attached to the American lifestyle as embodied in the return-migrants’ new social identity (exemplified by their new clothing, initial wealth and social status symbols gifted to family) was time limited. A participant stated that although economic opportunities in the US came along with social alienation, life in Mexico denied him the autonomy that an income could provide, stating, “It is harder for me here. Here, money, the truth is that, well the money is very little.” In fact, a majority of our participants discussed the possibility of returning to the US for economic reasons. Only one participant indicated that he was able to save enough money in the U.S. to purchase a taxi in Mexico which allowed him a steady source of income. He planned to remain in Mexico for the foreseeable future because he no longer had to make the choice between being able to provide for his family in the United States or having the emotional support of his family accessible in Mexico.

Discussion

Findings from this exploratory case study provide insight regarding research questions and hypotheses in the study of masculinity and migration. The inclusion of Latino migrant men’s return experience adds to the literature as it elucidates a more dynamic context of migrant men’s masculinity allowing for a transnational understanding of the phenomenon. The use of a transnational conceptual approach (Gaurnizo, 1997; Glick Schiller et al., 1995) and the gender strain paradigm (Levant, 2011) has implications for the study of links between masculinity and health as previous studies have found transnational networks to be associated to health risk behaviors, such as smoking, social isolation, and substance use (Alcantara et al., 2015; Negi, 2011; Negi, 2013). Findings suggest that in towns like Petlalcingo with significant out-migration, boys experience migration as one way to assert their masculinity as they observe the rising social status of male return-migrants. Further, such towns develop a culture whereby out-migration is a gender normative expectation for boys and men who are often expected to migrate to the US so that they can assume the responsibility of sending remittances to support family (Mahler, 1999).

Findings further suggest the fluidity of masculinity from discrimination and oppression as undocumented immigrants in the United States to sometimes higher social status or often, continued feelings of alienation upon return-migration. This has resonance with Mahler’s (2006) conceptualization of social location or “how individuals and groups are situated in multiple, intersecting, and mutually-constituting hierarchies of gender, class, race, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, and so on” (p.44). An understanding of social location within gender strain is then recommended, particularly as many of the return-migrants in this study indicated a desire to return to the United States which suggests the continuation of this gendered migration process.

This qualitative study also contextualized gender strain within Mexican migrant men’s transnational journey by illuminating key moments and turning points that may have particular salience to masculinity. For example, participants indicated that one important turning point was their physical crossing of the border as it symbolically represented a passage from one identity to another. While, crossing the border allowed the men to enact the gender social expectation to migrate and send remittance to support family, it simultaneously caused gender strain as their reliance on the coyote contested notions of self-reliance and the dangerous journey highlighted their feelings of powerlessness; thereby, contradicting hegemonic masculine values such as emotional control and lack of vulnerability (Emslie, Ridge, Ziebland & Hunt, 2006). This change in identity as a direct result of migration further had an impact on participants’ sense of social belonging whereby neither the United States nor Mexico could be solely identified as “home.” To this end, mental health providers that work with Mexican transnational migrant men must consider the migration process of their clients. Clinicians’ ability to have an in-depth understanding of their clients, or provide culturally responsive and effective services, can be significantly inhibited if they limit their focus within U.S. boundaries (Guzzetta, 2004). It may also be clinically productive to explore feelings related to the dislocation inherent in migration and the impact of gender strain on the mental health of transnational migrants.

As this is an exploratory study, findings must be viewed with caution. While the homogeneity and size of the sample was appropriate for qualitative analysis, limitations include generalizability of findings. Further, comparability of findings is limited due to the inclusion of only one case, Petlalcingo, disallowing cross-cultural analysis and finer discernment of unique gendered processes within each case. Future multisite research is recommended including binational longitudinal investigations that explore masculinity within a transnational context (pre and post-migration). While snowball sampling allowed for the identification of a hard-to-reach and understudied population of Mexican transnational migrants, several limitations associated with this technique must be addressed as well. Snowball sampling could have limited the diversity of participants that were included in the study as well as have potentially increased social desirability bias due to familiarity with the key informant of this study. Several strategies were incorporated during qualitative analysis to minimize researcher bias, including the use of a team approach to encourage varying view-points and the building of consensus however it is possible that the PI’s perspective may have had stronger influence on the final analysis due to the power differences between her and the rest of research team. Regardless of these limitations, this study is significant as it highlights the intersection between gender strain theory and transnational conceptual frameworks in the investigation of Latino migrant men’s lives, with the recommendation that more research settings include the return-context within the psychology of men and masculinity.

Contributor Information

Nalini Junko Negi, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Julia Clark Prickett, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Adrianna Marie Overdorff, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Jamie Roberts, School of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Rich Furman, Social Work and Criminal Justice Program, University of Washington Tacoma.

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