México - U.S. Migration Mapping: Mexican Consulates in the U.S.

In an era of globalization and pronounced migration flows between México and the United States, issues concerning remittances, the accessibility of financial services and economic development through mobile banking have become important topics of discussion. However, in order to fully understand these important issues, it is imperative to comprehend the geospatial implications within migration flows: how do migrants from different municipalities in México chose to relocate in certain rural or urban areas in the United States? Do rural villagers in México tend to migrate to rural areas in the United States?

These and other questions pertaining to migration can be explored by constructing migration maps that would allow us to further understand, spatially, how people migrate, where they migrate to, and the possible locations where immigrants might send remittances to. Such information could be of immense value for the implementation of economic development tools such as micro financing and mobile banking.

About the Data

The data used in this project was collected from two different sources. The first dataset was obtained through the U.S. 2000 Census Summary File 3.  This dataset contains information on both total population and foreign born Mexican population down to zip code area.. The second data source was a 2006 database provided by the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Extranjero (IME). This database contains information on the number of matriculas consulares or consulate IDs issued by the different Mexican consulates in the United States. The IME database helped us quantify the number of IDs issued by a particular Mexican consulate and the place of origin of the applicant, using the data to identify movements of migrants from different Mexican municipalities into U.S. cities and rural areas.

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