Mexican Migration: South to North

Lately, I have come across quite a few birth certificates from northern Mexican States such as Baja California Sur and Sinaloa where the parents are originally from Southern states such as Oaxaca and Veracruz. There is a space for the parents' home state and the year they arrived in their new state on these birth certificates. I am still curious as to what use this migratory information is to government officials, but it has nevertheless given me a reason to do some research.

The reason that these birth certificates have reached my computer screen in the first place is that one and/or several of the parties listed on them has emigrated to the United States. Like Mexicans from other parts of Mexico, Oaxacans are looking for better opportunities -whether in northern Mexican states or in the United States. I found an interesting website on the Oaxacan migration here. As it so happens, many of these Oaxacan migrants are Zapotec, a Mexican indigenous group.