Mexicans of European Descent - European Immigration To Mexico

European Immigration To Mexico

Mexicans of European descent are strongly associated with the history of the Spanish in the country as Mexico has not had the history of mass immigration that other New World countries such as the United States and Argentina have had. The criollos began as the descendents of the conquistadors, which was the supplemented by further immigration from Spain in the colonial era and then from various parts of Europe and European descended peoples from other places in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries—The term "criollo", to refer to very light skinned people, remained until the 20th century. After Independence, the Criollos took over politics and economic areas formerly banned to them such as mining. They have remained dominant since, especially in Mexico City. The expulsion of the Spanish between 1826 and 1833 kept the European ethnicity from growing as a percentage; however, this expulsion did not lead to any permanent ban on European immigrants, even from Spain.

Immigration to Mexico in the 19th and 20th century mostly came from Europe and other countries with European descended populations such as Argentina and the United States. However, at its height, the total immigrant population in Mexico never exceeded one percent. One reason for this was that the country lacked large expanses of cultivatable land on its mountainous terrain, and what existed was firmly in the hands of the criollo elite. Another was that European immigration after the Mexican War of Independence was both welcomed and feared, a combination of xenophilia and xenophobia, especially to Europeans and other "whites" existing to this day.

The xenophilia toward European and European derived immigrants comes from the country's association of civilization with European characteristics. After Independence, Liberals among Mexico's elite blamed the country's indigenous heritage for its inability to keep up with the economic development of the rest of the world. However, embracing only Mexico's European heritage was not possible. This led to an effort to encourage European immigrants. One of these efforts was the dispossession of large tracts of land from the Catholic Church with the aim of selling them to immigrants and others who would develop them. However, this did not have the desired effect mostly because of political instability. The Porfirio Díaz regime of the decades before the Mexican Revolution tried again, and expressly desired European immigration to promote modernization, instill Protestant work ethics and buttress what remained of Mexico's North from further U.S. expansionism. Díaz also expressed a desire to "whiten" Mexico's heavily racially mixed population, although this had more to do with culture than with biological traits. However, the Díaz regime had more success luring investors when permanent residents, even in rural areas despite government programs. No more than forty foreign farming colonies were ever formed during this time and of these only a few Italian and German ones survived.

From the 19th to the early 20th century, most European foreigners in Mexico were in urban areas, especially the country's capital, living in enclaves and involved in business. These European immigrants would quickly adapt to the Mexican attitude that "whiter was better", and keep themselves separate from the host country. This and their status as foreigners offered them considerable social and economic advantages, blunting any inclination to assimilate. There was little incentive to integrate with the general Mexican population and when they did, it was limited to the criollo upper class. For this reason, one can find non-Spanish surnames among Mexico's elite, especially in Mexico City, to this day.

However, even when generalized mixing did occur, such as with the Cornish miners in Hidalgo state around Pachuca and Real de Monte, their cultural influence remains strong. In these areas, English style houses can be found and the signature dish is the "paste" a variation of the English pasty. In the early 20th century, a group of about 100 Russian immigrants, mostly Pryguny and some Molokane and Cossacks came to live in area near Ensenada, Baja California. The main colony is in the Valle de Guadalupe and locally known as the Colonia Rusa near the town of Francisco Zarco. Other smaller colonies include San Antonio, Mision del Orno and Punta Banda. There are an estimated 1000 descendents of these immigrants in Mexico, nearly all of whom have intermarried. The original settlements are now under the preservation of the Mexican government and have become tourist attractions.

By the end of the Porfirian era, Americans, British, French, Germans and Spanish were the most conspicuous whites in Mexico, but they were limited to Mexico City in enclaves, failing to produce the "whitening" effect desired. This history would mean that Mexico would never become a nation of immigrants, but rather one where a few well-connected newcomers could make a great impact. Despite Diaz' early efforts at attracting foreign immigration, he reversed course near the end of his government, nationalizing industries dominated by foreigners such as trains. Foreigners were blamed for much of the country's economic problems leading to restriction. This would cause many foreigners to leave. In the 20th century, especially after the Mexican Revolution, the mestizo was idealized, but it was still considered to be inferior to the European.

One reason for the Mexico's xenophobia was that Europeans and Americans often quickly dominated various industries and commerce in the country. By the mid-19th century, there were only 30,000 to 40,000 Caucasian immigrants compared to an overall population of over eight million, but their impact was strongly felt. For example, the Spanish and French came to dominate the textile industry and various areas of commerce, pioneering the industrialization of the country. Various Europeans and Americans also dominated mining, oil and cash crop agriculture. Many of these immigrants were not really immigrants at all, but rather "trade conquistadors" who remained in Mexico only long enough to make their fortunes to return to their home countries to retire. Large numbers of Americans in Texas, would eventually lead to the succession of that territory. These two experiences would strongly affect Mexico's immigration policy to this day, even though Mexico's total foreign population at its height in the 1930s, never exceeded one percent of the total.

Legal vestiges of attempts to "whiten" the population ended with the 1947 "Ley General de Población" along with the blurring of the lines between most of Mexico immigrant colonies and the general population. This blurring was hastened by the rise of a Mexican middle class, who enrolled their children in schools for foreigners and foreign organizations such as the German Club having a majority of Mexican members. However, this assimilation still has been mostly limited to Mexico's lighter skinned peoples. Mass culture promoted the Spanish language and most other European languages have declined and almost disappeared. Restrictive immigration policies since the 1970s have further pushed the assimilation process. Since then there has been very little immigration with the overwhelming majority of foreigners it the country on temporary visas.