By Veronica Martinez and Raul Flores / La Verdad
CIUDAD JUAREZ – Hilda Sotelo was born in Mexico and naturalized in the United States, giving her dual citizenship.
“I'm a transnational person. I've lived in Juarez for years and have family in both Juarez and here in El Paso,” says the professor and writer. “I speak both languages, I have dual citizenship, and I've been spending more and more time in the United States lately.”
Sotelo said he has crossed the border from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez to vote in Mexico every election since 2012.
This year, as a dual citizen, she will be able to vote in both countries' presidential elections: in Mexico on Sunday, June 2, and in the United States on Tuesday, November 5.
Mexico's federal elections on Sunday have three candidates running for president, two of whom are women: Claudia Sheinbaum of the Keep Making History Coalition (also known as Renewal Movement, Morena, the Greens and the Workers' Party), Xochitl Gálvez of the Strength and Heart Coalition (PAN, PRI and PRD parties), and Jorge Álvarez Maínez of the Citizen Movement Party. The elections also include races for senators, governors and mayors across the country, including the mayoral race in Juárez.
On November 5, US voters will choose between Democratic incumbent Joe Biden and Republican candidate Donald Trump for president. Other races in the general election include elections for US and state senators and representatives, while El Paso's ballot also includes races for sheriff and district attorney.
Sotero and thousands of other people with dual citizenship can influence presidential elections on both sides of the border on everything from settlement and immigration to economic development, foreign trade, and safety and security.
Among them are brother and sister Alejandro Orkis, 20, and Karime Orkis, 23. Both share a common border situation, crossing the border regularly to visit family, study or work.
“It's very important that we young people start thinking about politics because the elections that take place now will shape the future we live in later. We want to have better opportunities,” Karime said.
Mexican and US presidential elections occur simultaneously every 12 years: Mexican elections occur every six years and US elections occur every four years.
Both countries will hold presidential elections this year, which will likely further politicize the electoral process, said Victor Alejandro Espinoza, a political science researcher and rector of the University of the North Frontera.
“Those who are interested in what happens in the U.S. elections will also be interested in what happens in the Mexican elections,” Espinosa said.
“I think there will be increased interest in some areas where we recognize the importance of the relationship. For people in the United States and Mexico, the election affects life in both countries,” he added.
Espinosa said there is little data on this dual-nationality population and its size and political influence remains difficult to define, but he said the population is comparable to Mexico's voting population overseas.
Dual citizenship brings dual privileges but also creates dual responsibilities, he said.
“My belief is that democracy is created by voting. Politics is part of our daily lives and the people of both countries depend on all these decisions,” said Sotelo, who has been involved in political campaigns for Mexican parties in El Paso.
Dual citizenship, 2 votes
Since 1998, Mexican nationality law has allowed Mexicans to hold multiple nationalities.
Espinosa said there is a very high rate of dual citizenship in communities along the border, adding that some people obtained dual citizenship through the naturalization process or because they were born in the United States and have at least one Mexican parent.
According to the U.S. Census, approximately 24.4 million people were born overseas and obtained citizenship through the naturalization process in 2022. These figures are not broken down by nationality, but it is estimated that 44% are Hispanic or Latino.
In Mexico, the majority of foreign-born people living in the country are from the United States, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Information (INEGI). The state with the largest number of U.S.-born residents is Baja California, followed by Chihuahua.
The Chihuahua state government reported that the Civil Registry issued more than 50,000 dual citizenship certificates through the “I am Mexico” program between 2016 and 2021. In 2023, more than 15,000 certificates were issued.
Espinosa and other political science researchers believe the population of dual U.S.-Mexican citizens is similar and comparable to the population of Mexicans voting overseas.
“Mexicans with dual citizenship who vote in the United States are also people who vote in Mexican elections. It takes a certain level of knowledge and confidence to participate in both elections,” he said.
But the political influence of dual Mexican nationals and those voting abroad is much smaller.
The National Electoral Commission (INE) reported that more than 100 million Mexicans are registered on the electoral roll for the 2023-24 elections. Just over 227,000 Mexicans living abroad are eligible to vote this year, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior and the SRE.
Living and working at the border
The connection between Mexico and the United States is evident in the daily lives of people on both sides of the border: some cross the border every day to go to school, shop or work, others just to visit family on the weekends.
This has been Sotelo's life for more than 50 years.
Her grandfather and father were participants in the Bracero program, and she was born in Mexico and completed the U.S. naturalization process in the 1990s. She earned her undergraduate degree in Juarez but continued her graduate studies in El Paso.
She currently works at the University of Texas at El Paso, but is also involved in community, cultural and political activities in Juarez.
El Paso native Levi Pereda has a similar story. Whenever people ask him where he's from, he always says Juarez. He's lived there most of his life and started working in El Paso when he was in high school. He started college in Texas, earning his master's degree, and moved back to El Paso two years ago after living in Houston for eight years.
He works remotely, so his lifestyle allows him to easily split his time between both cities.
Pereda said that emotionally, he feels a sense of belonging to his Mexican nationality, but that he places more importance on the U.S. side because that is where he gets financial support from his family.
“I think my financial security is more related to the US elections, but in terms of importance, I think I place equal value on both,” he said.
Alejandro Orquis is studying psychology at the University of Juarez but works in the US restaurant industry on weekends.
This year marked the 20-year-old's first time voting in a Mexican election.
His younger sister, Karime, 23, who studies and works in the United States and returns to Juarez on weekends, voted in Mexico's 2018 presidential election and in the United States in 2020.
This will be the first time she has been able to vote in two presidential elections in the same year.
“Because I live in both countries, both orders affect me,” she said.
Daniel Ordóñez was born in El Paso but grew up in Mexico and identifies as Mexican. He lived in Kingsville, Texas, for two years and now lives in his hometown. He occasionally travels to Juarez to visit friends and make doctor appointments.
He described his relationship with the two countries as “not black and white” and said there are things he likes and dislikes about each, but he said he feels the Mexican election has a greater impact on him because his family and his wife's family live in Ciudad Juarez.
Implications for U.S. and Mexican voters
Karime said when he voted in Mexico in 2018, he voted based on information he received from his family. This time around, he thinks he should find out more about the candidates and choose based on what seems to “make the most sense” to him. She describes her political leanings in both countries as “slightly liberal.”
Her brother, Alejandro, said he is only considering voting in Mexico's elections this year because American politics seem “foreign.”
“I feel that what happens in Mexico affects me more directly than what happens in the United States,” he said. “I believe exercising my right to vote is important socially, but I don't know what U.S. politics is like, so I want to abstain.”
To Alejandro, the US Electoral College system seems difficult to understand and confusing.
“It's a completely different world,” he said. “In the United States (under the Electoral College), you vote for the person who looks out for your interests and votes for you. Here (in Mexico), it's a live vote. You vote for a candidate, and that's your vote.”
Sotelo also believes the US electoral process is much more complicated than Mexico's.
“El Paso has historically voted Democratic, but that doesn't represent the ideals of the rest of the state, which is one of the most heavily Republican states,” she said.
“Right now, I think my vote will have more impact in the United States. In Mexico, I participated where I should have, and now it's my turn here,” Sotelo said. “This country is in total decline, but it's the country that gives me my job. Maybe my participation in the U.S. elections will be more important.”
