The News
Thursday 28 of March 2024

Immigration Expert: Mexico Migrant Youth in Peril


Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) coat of arms,photo: Wikimedia
Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) coat of arms,photo: Wikimedia
Andrea Bautista León, an expert from the University of Texas spoke at at a conference at the UAEM campus in Toluca

Andrea Bautista León, an immigration expert from the University of Texas in San Antonio said that the level of unemployment in Mexico for young people that have returned from the United States is concerning.

Bautista León spoke at the symposium titled “Youth, Gender and Migrations” organized by the the Center for Research, Mobility Studies and International Migrations (CIyEMMI) located at the Autonomous University of the Sate of Mexico (UAEM).

During the symposium, Bautista León said that a study is currently taking place, that takes a look at binational mobility between migrants that return to Mexico and Mexican migrants in the United States.

Bautista León said that the study shows that in the year 2000, 120,000 youth migrants from the ages of 15 to 29 returned to Mexico. In 2010, that number increased to 300,000, and in 2015 there were 275,000 returnees.

According to Bautista León, youth migrants account for 30 percent of the total number of migrants that return to Mexico, and it is key that their educational and employment be evaluated in order to create outreach programs that can better help them integrate into the country.