Research Library

This paper builds on social network analysis (SNA) and the use of node similarity-based algorithms to make link predictions about Mexico’s network of criminal organizations.

Among the U.S. citizens migrating to Mexico in recent years are an unknown number of Americans who married Mexican citizens and were co-deported or departed voluntarily with their undocumented spouses, the authors report. Without improved consular services and a diaspora policy that anticipates the likely return of these Americans in the future, the authors worry that the United States risks re-inheriting a sizable U.S. population that may well require critical government services to reintegrate after a prolonged period abroad.

This paper maps out the network of alliances and subgroups within the two most powerful cartels in Mexico — the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación — and reveals key structural differences that could have important implications for policymakers.