Rights and Obligations of Americans in Mexico in Immigration Law and in Other Areas of Mexican Law

Abstract

Recent studies in Mexico suggest that the presence of U.S. citizens in Mexico is becoming larger, more varied and more permanent in that country. Mexico's Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur) reports that twenty million Americans visited Mexico as tourists in 2005. Today, according to INEGI (National Institute on Statistics, Geography and Information), a total of 492,617 foreigners live in Mexico today, out of which 477,838 are Americans. This article discusses the rights and obligations of Americans while residing in Mexico as Temporary residents or Permanent residents (Inmigrados). The article starts with the legal definition of a "Foreigner" (Extranjero) and discusses each of the constitutional rights (Garantias individuales) that Mexico's 1917 Federal Constitution prescribes in favor of foreign nationals. A special section is devoted to describing the different immigration categories (with their respective rights and obligations) within each of these two large groups: Immigrants and Non-Immigrants, pursuant to Mexican Immigration Law. The article ends with a discussion on the special legal restrictions imposed by Mexican law upon foreigners regarding the entering into certain "Legal Acts and Contracts" and the ways of becoming a Mexican citizen by naturalization.