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The geography Mexican migration to the U.S. has experienced deep transformations in both its origin composition and the destinations chosen by migrants. To date, however, we know little about how shifting migrant origins and destinations may be linked to each another geographically and, ultimately, structurally as relatively similar brands of economic restructuring have been posited to drive the shifts in origins and destinations. In this paper, we describe how old and new migrant networks have combined to fuel the well-documented geographic expansion of Mexican migration. We use data from the 2006 Mexican National Survey of Population Dynamics, a nationally representative survey that for the first time collected information on U.S. state of destination for all household members who had been to the U.S. during the 5 years prior to the survey. We find that the growth in immigration to southern and eastern states is disproportionately fueled by undocumented migration from non-traditional origin regions located in Central and Southeastern Mexico and from rural areas in particular. We argue that economic restructuring in the U.S. and Mexico had profound consequences not only for the magnitude but also for the geography of Mexican migration, opening up new region-to-region flows.

This piece considers the deseos -- wants, desires, needs -- and dolores -- pain or sorrow -- of individuals in US-Mexico transnational partnerships. For transnational Mexicans, “desire” manifests as diverse, even contradictory, expressions of emotion. Migration is intertwined with multiple desires within intimate relationships, but is also tied to suffering across borders. Conflicting articulations of deseos y dolores reveal gender politics as well as the broader socioeconomic inequalities that drive migration and result in the transborder movement that separates couples and family members in a transnational space.

Newly arriving immigrants from Southern Africa and Mexicans do not get on well in the sunbelt state of Florida. A persistent theme emerging from discussions with South Africans on their relationship with Mexicans is that both sides perceive the other as culturally ethnocentric. The antagonistic relationship between both social groups is due to strong ethnic bonds and the clash of cultures.

Due to the social and ecological changes that have taken place in the region of Soconusco, Chiapas, Mexico, the coffee tree growth economy (established in the latter part of the last century) has been an important factor in the transmission of onchocerciasis. The optimum ecological conditions for the growth of the coffee tree coincide with those of the disease's growth rate vector; the mobilization of migrant workers for the cultivation and gathering of coffee beans, plus changes in the natural environment, are elements which explain the disease's distribution in the different regions. The origin of the disease in Chiapas may be due to the migration of coffee plantation workers from Guatemala in search of land in which to settle. Social changes occurring after the Agrarian Distribution (land distributions that occurred in 1918 and 1940) caused an intensification and modernization in the areas of cultivation which in turn caused a decline in the disease's growth rate vector. This, together with standard of living improvements and control measures against the disease, explain why the problem in these regions has decreased considerably. The use of ivermectin as a new therapy paves the way for better disease control in the future. Nevertheless, in the smaller locations occupied by middle and poor class farmers, where coffee bean cultivation is just commencing and still in a rudimentary form, onchocerciasis and other diseases continue to present serious health problems.