A Town Divided: Economic Stratification and Social Relations in a Mexican Migrant Community

Abstract

Contrary to widespread popular belief, a significant number of Mexican migrants work only temporarily in the United States and then return to their homes in Mexico to spend their earnings. This paper examines the impact of this seasonal migration on economic stratification and inter-personal relations within one rural Mexican town. I compare three groups of townspeople: legal migrants, illegal migrants and non-migrants. Legal migrants have improved their standard of living faster than the other two groups and have become, in effect, an economic elite. Heightened economic stratification has also produced serious divisions in what was once a relatively homogeneous social system. As a result, inter-personal relations between townspeople have become increasingly circumscribed by wealth and migrant status.