University of Illinois at Chicago, Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy
November 2013
IRRPP SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT
THE EVOLUTION OF MEXICAN ORGANIZATIONS
XÓCHITL BADA
Introduction
How did early Mexican migrant organizations change into the contemporary
Mexican organizations we see today?
Assistant Professor,
Latin American
& Latino Studies
University of Illinois
at Chicago
Bada’s work focuses on civic,
cultural, and political
participation of Chicago-based
Mexican migrant hometown
associations.
Her book, Mexican Hometown
Associations in Chicagoacán:
From Local to Transnational
Civic Engagement, is
forthcoming with Rutgers
University Press in 2014.
IRRPP:

funds research

trains scholars to join in on
policy discussions

collaborates on social justice
projects with community
organizations
hosts events

In early-20th century Chicago, Mexican mutual-aid societies were the first
civic organizations formed by Mexican migrants. They helped to fulfill the
needs of unemployment, widowhood, burial and social activities. By the mid1940s, heavy racial discrimination caused these organizations to focus on
cultivating a sense of pride by recreating cultural practices from the
homeland. In the 1980s, Mexican organizations began the transition to
Hometown Associations (HTAs), with migrants committed to funding the
needs of their hometowns (i.e. building roads, telephone lines, running
water, etc.). This research used original archival sources and ethnographies
to understand the evolution of Mexican migrant organizations.
Findings
• The instability caused by the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s and 20s
caused many migrants to live in several places in Mexico before moving to
the US. Thus early organizations organized around a Mexican national
identity rather than by their hometown affiliations.
• At the same time, Mexico had a strong central government; therefore funds
given by these organizations for use back home were dispersed to
municipalities, often unfairly, by the Mexican national government.
• By 1980, the population growth of Mexican migrant communities made it
easier for migrants to find countrymen from the same hometown.
Migrants were more likely to come straight from their hometown leaving
emotional attachments to their hometowns intact.
• During the 1980s and 90s, the Mexican government decentralized the
economy. This meant that funds contributed by HTAs could bypass the
national government and go directly to the desired municipalities. Once
their visibility increased, HTAs were able to convince the Mexican
government to create a matching fund program, called the Three-for-One
Program, to increase the impact of their collective remittances.
Recommendations
Even with the Three-for One Program, many of the funded projects are for
basic infrastructure which create short-term job growth. The Mexican
government should commit separate resources to infrastructure so that
funds given by HTAs can support projects that generate permanent job
opportunities and reduce the pressures of international migration. To move
toward this goal, HTAs need access to more public funds and the support of
private foundations to leverage their contributions for rural development.
___________________________________________
Bada, X. (2013). “From National to Topophilic Attachments: Continuities and
Changes in Chicago’s Mexican Migrant Organizations.” Latino Studies, 11, 28-54.
For more research…
Read other IRRPP funded
reports, with topics including
education, incarceration,
immigration, and more!
Learn more on our website.
irrpp.uic.edu
RESEARCH
AT IRRPP