Mexican Migrant Civic and Political Participation in the U.S.: The Case of Hometown Associations in Los Angeles and Chicago Gaspar Rivera-Salgado Director, Transnational Communities Program New Americans Immigration Museum and Learning Center 3725 Lemon Avenue Long Beach, CA 90807
[email protected] Xóchitl Bada Doctoral Candidate in Sociology Institute for Latino Studies University of Notre Dame 230 McKenna Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556
[email protected] and Luis Escala-Rabadán Researcher Social Studies Department El Colegio de la Frontera Norte Km 18.5 Carretera Escénica Tijuana-Ensenada San Antonio el Mar Tijuana, Baja California, México
[email protected] Background Paper to be presented at the seminar “Mexican Migrant Social and Civic Participation in the United States.” To be held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This seminar is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino Studies Department of the University of California, Santa Cruz and the Mexico Institute and Division of United States Studies of the Woodrow Wilson Center. With support from the Rockefeller, Inter-American, and Ford Foundations. Washington D.C., November 4th and 5th, 2005. Abstract Mexican migration to the United States has become an increasingly debated topic in the public arena, mainly as a result of its sustained high-density flow and vast distribution nationwide. While this growing population has been negatively portrayed through several political and media campaigns, the grassroots organizations forged by these migrants have received less attention. This report examines the increasing civic and political participation of Mexican migrants organized through hometown associations (HTAs), the most prevalent form of voluntary-sector activity among first-generation Mexican migrants in the United States.