Blair Professor of Latino Studies Contributes to Mexican National Electoral Institute Forum

Xavier Medina Vidal

Xavier Medina Vidal, the Diane D. Blair Professor of Latino Studies and assistant professor in the Department of Political Science in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, was selected by officials of Mexico’s national electoral management body, the Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE), to participate in the forum “The Mexican Diaspora and the Vote of Mexicans Living in the United States” in Mexico City from Aug. 15-16.

As Mexico prepares for the 2018 election for president, the nation’s autonomous electoral management body, known as the INE, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is preparing to administer the election process for Mexicans living in the United States. According to the ministry’s Institute of Mexicans Abroad, in 2016 there were more 12 million Mexicans living aborad, 97.7 percent of whom reside in the United States.

According to U.S. Census figures, the Mexican diaspora, which comprises both Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans born in the U.S., sums over 35 million people, or about 64 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population. The forum brought together shcholars from the U.S. and Mexico’s top universities and research centers with national electoral officials and representatives from Mexico’s federal legislative, executive, and judicial branches to discuss how best to engage Mexicans living in the U.S. to facilitate their participation in Mexico’s upcoming presidential election. 

Medina Vidal’s contribution to the INE’s forum was based on data collected by the Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society‘s post-2016 election Blair Poll. He highlighted the importance of the U.S. South as a region of great importance among the Mexican diaspora because of its rapid popoulation growth in southern states. Further, he shared the Blair Poll’s findings concerning the Mexican diaspora’s historical political participation in Mexican and U.S. elections, and demonstrated that Mexicans in the U.S. pay a great amount of attention to politics in Mexico and have strong feelings of linked fate with Mexicans in Mexico. 

“Being one of four U.S.-based political scientists invited by the INE to participate in the forum was an honor,” Medina Vidal said. “The international recognition illustrates the strength of the Blair Center and of the Blair Center Poll.”

The greatest honor, however, is a personal one for Medina Vidal.

“As a Mexicano-Chicano born in the U.S. to a mother from Chihuahua, Mexico, and a father from Chama, New Mexico, it is especially meaningful that I was able to offer both a personal and a scholarly perspective on the issues important to the Mexican diaspora in the U.S. with Mexican officials,” he said. “It is encouraging that Mexican officials are truly transnational in their approach to understanding the issues important to Mexicans and Chicanos and that they are eager to learn from academics researching and teaching through a transnational lens.

For more information, please visit the Blair Center website.

This story originally appeared in the University of Arkansas’ Newswire publication. Please visit news.uark.edu for more stories like this.