Years of Work and Sacrifice, but No Security: New Report Exposes Precarious Lives of Aging Undocumented Mexicans in the U.S.

Los Angeles, CA – The vast majority of elderly undocumented workers from Mexico living in the U.S.are facing old age without the protection of a pension or other retirement benefits, a new survey has found. The report, “Repaying the Debt,” which surveyed more than 1,500 undocumented immigrants across the United States, found that these workers had little financial security of their own after years – or decades – of sending remittances supporting their families back home and helping to stabilize their home country’s economy. The national survey, led by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), comes at a significant moment when the Government of Mexico is considering expanding retirement assistance for the first time to its citizens living in the U.S.

“There is a historical debt owed to our aging workers. Both the U.S. and Mexico have benefited tremendously from an immigrant workforce who have given everything,” said Pablo Alvarado, Co-Executive Director of NDLON. “With $65 billion estimated in remittances for 2024, migrant workers living in the U.S. are not just contributing to the regional economy, they are subsidizing it.”

Read the full study here: Version in English and Spanish.

Some findings from the national elderly workers survey include:

• On average, the full group of respondents have been employed in the US for 34 years
• 93 percent of respondents are supporting families in Mexico through remittances
• 33 percent of respondents were forced to work during the height of the COVID pandemic

The study was published on August 14, 2024 with simultaneous press conferences in front of the Mexican Consulates in downtown Los Angeles and in New York City.

In December 2023, volunteers and staff of member organizations from NDLON’s national network began administering surveys to undocumented immigrants from Mexico age 62 and older. The outreach was guided by the Macehualli Council of Elders, national working group of elderly workers from day laborer and worker centers nationwide.

On July 22, 2024, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico announced that the national “Pension Bienestar” program would be expanded to include Mexican workers who have retired in the U.S., but implementation details have yet to be announced. Representatives from NDLON and the Macehualli Council of Elders plan to travel to Mexico City next week to advocate for effective implementation that includes aging workers in the U.S. who are undocumented.

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