Mexicans in the U.S. brace for a Trump victory

Mexican immigrants who qualify for citizenship in the United States (US) are hurrying to become U.S. citizens before Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 352,467 jobs for Mexican immigrants were created between January and April, the largest amount in four years for a similar period.

Instead, jobs for Mexican citizens without citizenship decreased by 272,547, the largest drop since 2008.

Alejandro Cervantes, senior economist at Banorte, says that the increase in the creation of jobs for Mexican immigrants with citizenship is due to two factors: undocumented immigrants are hurrying to regularize their situation before the presidential elections and U.S. employers are preferring to hire legal migrants, given the uncertainty about the situation of illegal workers after the elections.

Cervantes considers that the flow of remittances to Mexico will accelerate as U.S. elections approach, because migrants will seek to prepare in case Trump wins the presidency.

Last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the immigration plan proposed by President Barack Obama that sought to avoid deportation of millions of people.

José Luis de la Cruz, director of the Institute for Industrial Development and Economic Growth, agreed that migrants who qualify for U.S. citizenship are rushing to obtain it before the elections.

He added that U.S. employers prefer to hire legal migrants in case Trump wins and due to the policies implemented in recent years. De la Cruz considers that the decision of the U.S. court has pushed migrants to legalize their status.

According to Jorge Bustamante, founder of the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, there is no opening for migrants to obtain citizenship.

"The outlook for Mexican residents in the United States is pretty dark and for migrants it is even worse, and it would be much worse if Trump wins," he explained.

Bustamante, sociology professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, does not think that the situation of migrants will improve even if Hillary Clinton wins.

"Undocumented migrants will continue to be deported and put in private prisons," the researcher emeritus warned.

Bustamente added that there are intensive campaigns for U.S. citizens of Mexican origin to register as voters and vote for the Democratic Party.

He said that the labor market has improved for migrants in the last three years, but historically U.S. employers have preferred to hire legal migrants rather than illegal.