Internal Migration to Yucatán, Mexico: Moving for Security

Abstract

Between 2000 and 2020, over one-third of the population increase of Yucatán’s capital city, Mérida, was due to the increase in the population born in another state in Mexico. Compared to the rest of Mexico and to Yucatán’s historical patterns, the growth in the out-of-state population during this time period has been unusual and dramatic. We focus on one explanation for this growth: the increase in criminal violence and insecurity in the rest of Mexico that has made Yucatán an attractive destination for Mexicans seeking safe spaces to work, raise their families, and retire. Migration-policy specialists, the media, and scholars often focus their attention on Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs), who are forcibly displaced from their homes in contexts of generalized violence. Although migrants to Yucatán cite security concerns more than migrants to any other state, few come from states in which IDPs have been documented. We broadly define migrants seeking safety from criminal insecurity and violence as security migrants and argue that using this broader definition describes migrants to Yucatán more accurately than IDPs.