Ins and Outs: Immigration Policies in Early 20th Century Mexico and the Arrival of Spanish Immigrants and Exiles

Abstract: In the early decades of the 20th century, Mexican immigration laws and government circulars dictated populations believed to be economically, racially, and intellectually favorable. Determined to be a population able to easily assimilate into Mexican society based on their ability to maintain Mexico's mestizo demographic identity, the government gave preferential treatment to Spaniards seeking the opportunity to migrate. The Mexican government sought to protect the nation's mixed-identity through the promulgation of restrictive immigration policies, establishing limitations for populations believed to be too "other" to seamlessly integrate and bring wide-spread benefit to the nation. To understand Mexico's provision of aid to Spanish exiles and refugees unable or unwilling to return to their homeland during and after the Spanish Civil War, this article examines the Ley de Migración, the Ley de General Población, and other immigration laws promulgated between 1926 and 1936 and their efforts to control who was able to enter the country.