ABSTRACT
Reconstructing the history of the government agency responsible for managing Mexico's migration policy, this chapter traces the Migration Service's late-nineteenth-century roots and its official establishment in the 1920s in response to the migration problems facing the first post-revolutionary governments. The author analyzes the legislation underpinning migration policy and the Service's institutional framework, and he provides an overview of the geographical distribution and organization of its offices across Mexico. As part of the research into the background and characteristics of the agency's personnel, recruitment strategies, salaries, duties, and responsibilities, the text focuses on the career of Andrés Landa y Piña, a prominent figure in the creation and management of the Migration Service at a time when Mexico applied strict controls and sometimes even outright bans on foreign immigrants.
