Ethnically speaking why have so few Mexicans and central Americans migrated to the UK?

[Oliver109]

There are quite a lot of Columbians, Equadorians and some other Latin Americans in the UK but the majority of not the vast majority come from south America, there are not many central Americans here as they all seem to go to the USA, what explains the fact that South Americans seem more likely to migrate to Europe?

[Tooting Carmen]

Actually, there are quite a few Salvadorans and Honduras coming here in order to flee the Maras. But to answer your question, it is because the US is so nearby...

[Tooting Carmen]

Whereas South America is not so close to the USA. Furthermore, many Brazilians, Argentines and Venezuelans in particular have recent European ancestry and thus often come to Europe with European passports.

[Oliver109]

Actually, there are quite a few Salvadorans and Honduras coming here in order to flee the Maras. But to answer your question, it is because the US is so nearby...
Well Columbia is closer to the USA and so is perhaps equador, I can understand Brazilians or Argentinians moving to Europe but people from northern South America seem to mainly move to Europe, I actually don't think A American communities are that big In USA

[Oliver109]

Whereas South America is not so close to the USA. Furthermore, many Brazilians, Argentines and Venezuelans in particular have recent European ancestry and thus often come to Europe with European passports.

Perhaps a lot of Columbians have EU connections too? Would that apply to your family? But yeah the Mexicans seem to have very weak Spanish links.

[Incal]

They can walk to the US...

[Tooting Carmen]

My mother does have grandparents from France and Spain, but that is not why she came here and, furthermore, she arrived on a Colombian passport.

[Oliver109]

My mother does have grandparents from France and Spain, but that is not why she came here and, furthermore, she arrived on a Colombian passport.
That's interesting, it applies differently to different people though I have known some Latin Americans who did live in Spain before they came to the UK, I think some Columbians were granted asylum here in the 80s and 90s because of the problems there, there aren't that many coming now though when I was growing up in the late 90s there were quite a lot in my school.

[Tooting Carmen]

That's interesting, it applies differently to different people though I have known some Latin Americans who did live in Spain before they came to the UK, I think some Columbians were granted asylum here in the 80s and 90s because of the problems there, there aren't that many coming now though when I was growing up in the late 90s there were quite a lot in my school.

That is true. A lot of the Latin Americans I interpret for did live in Spain first before moving here.

[Oliver109]

That is true. A lot of the Latin Americans I interpret for did live in Spain first before moving here.
Quite a few Moroccans too, the number of ethnic Spaniards seems quite low on the other hand, before the 2008 recession there were not many Spaniards in London except for a small community around Notting Hill.

[Tooting Carmen]

Quite a few Moroccans too, the number of ethnic Spaniards seems quite low on the other hand, before the 2008 recession there were not many Spaniards in London except for a small community around Notting Hill.

Lots of ethnic Spaniards did come to London in particular, and to some extent other parts of Britain too, during the peak of the economic crisis (more-or-less 2008-15), but many if not most have returned back to Spain since.

[Oliver109]

Lots of ethnic Spaniards did come to London in particular, and to some extent other parts of Britain too, during the peak of the economic crisis (more-or-less 2008-15), but many if not most have returned back to Spain since.

That's true, I remember a very good Spanish food shop in Soho closing recently because of lack of trade, on there other hand E Euro migrants have mostly stayed it seems.

[Tooting Carmen]

That's true, I remember a very good Spanish food shop in Soho closing recently because of lack of trade, on there other hand E Euro migrants have mostly stayed it seems.

No, quite a few have gone back due to Brexit and improved economic conditions in their own countries as well, especially Poles.

[Oliver109]

No, quite a few have gone back due to Brexit and improved economic conditions in their own countries as well, especially Poles.
I don't think brexit was a motivator for people to leave the UK, you are right though that the economy has improved a lot in Spain and Poland though a lot of Polish people here are older than the Spanish and have families so I think more stayed, the majority of Spanish immigrants I think are under the age of 35 and there are not many middle aged Spaniards

[Tooting Carmen]

I don't think brexit was a motivator for people to leave the UK, you are right though that the economy has improved a lot in Spain and Poland though a lot of Polish people here are older than the Spanish and have families so I think more stayed, the majority of Spanish immigrants I think are under the age of 35 and there are not many middle aged Spaniards

Of course Brexit has driven out many Europeans from the UK - it has made migrating and settling here much more complicated and bureaucratic than before.

[Oliver109]

Of course Brexit has driven out many Europeans from the UK - it has made migrating and settling here much more complicated and bureaucratic than before.

Something like 6 million Europeans took citizenship here, though yeah there are more Indians and Africans working in my local Coffee shops, supermarkets and fast food joints now, ironically like the years before eastern Europe joined the EU when a lot of third world people did the menial jobs in London.

[Tooting Carmen]

Something like 6 million Europeans took citizenship here, though yeah there are more Indians and Africans working in my local Coffee shops, supermarkets and fast food joints now, ironically like the years before eastern Europe joined the EU when a lot of third world people did the menial jobs in London.

Between the big EU expansion in 2004 and Brexit in 2016, at least 60% of immigration to the UK was from the EU. Now, it is probably half that at most. The NHS in particular is increasingly becoming the province of Indians, Filipinos, Nigerians, Chinese, Malaysians and Egyptians.

[Oliver109]

Between the big EU expansion in 2004 and Brexit in 2016, at least 60% of immigration to the UK was from the EU. Now, it is probably half that at most. The NHS in particular is increasingly becoming the province of Indians, Filipinos, Nigerians, Chinese, Malaysians and Egyptians.

Indeed though i would guess that of that 60% that migrated from the EU perhaps 20% of that would have come from southern Asia, Africa or Latin America, or North Africa originally at least in London anyway.

[Tooting Carmen]

Indeed though i would guess that of that 60% that migrated from the EU perhaps 20% of that would have come from southern Asia, Africa or Latin America originally at least in London anyway.

What are you talking about? London became and to an extent still is full of Southern and Eastern Europeans (native ones).

[Oliver109]

What are you talking about? London became and to an extent still is full of Southern and Eastern Europeans (native ones).

More eastern Euros, a lot of Portuguese here seem to have come originally from Brazil or Africa, sometimes also Goans or general S Asians, there are also quite a few Bangladeshis and Nigerians from Italy.

[HelloGuys]

All of these are not ethnicities, but nationalities.

[hangh]

It’s always funny to me when foreigners try to enhance their diversity vis a vis the U.S. by doing this either-or thing, where if a certain group is very proportionally prominent in the US, that means that other groups aren’t relevant and then come the implications that Colombian and other South American ancestry is as relevant to the UK as it is to the US…no.

The USA has a ton more of every South American nationality than the UK does

[Oliver109]

It’s always funny to me when foreigners try to enhance their diversity vis a vis the U.S. by doing this either-or thing, where if a certain group is very proportionally prominent in the US, that means that other groups aren’t relevant and then come the implications that Colombian and other South American ancestry is as relevant to the UK as it is to the US…no.

The USA has a ton more of every South American nationality than the UK does

As a Brit i would rather take Hispanic migrants to the UK than Africans, Pakistanis and Arabs as Hispanics are more likely to share common White culture.