Cervecería Tecate has launched a new program called “Welcome Back Paisano” that connects deported and repatriated Mexicans with jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities in border cities including Tijuana.
The brewery partnered with Funde, a Mexican NGO, to create the initiative. It offers three core services: help recovering Mexican identification documents, business skills training, and a pathway to operate a Six convenience store franchise. Five pilot locations have already opened in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez.
Program Aims To Recruit 130 More Participants
Tecate plans to recruit 130 additional participants over the next two months before scaling the program nationwide. Interested individuals can apply through the platform at Tecate.com/welcomebackpaisano.
The program arrives as Tijuana faces a sharp increase in repatriations from the United States. The city is one of Mexico’s primary receiving points for deportees, and tightened U.S. immigration enforcement under President Trump has pushed more people through its ports of entry. Many deportees arrive without valid Mexican documentation, making it difficult to find legal employment or access basic services.
Part of a Broader Push for Private Sector Reintegration
Tecate’s initiative joins a growing wave of private-sector programs targeting deportee employment. In February, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that employers affiliated with Mexico’s Business Coordinating Council (CCE) had committed to offering roughly 35,000 jobs to deported Mexicans under a national strategy called “México te abraza” (Mexico Embraces You). That program includes welfare support, Mexican Social Security registration, and transportation to help returnees reach their hometowns.
On the ground in Tijuana, companies are already tapping into the bilingual workforce that deportees represent. Businesses like the EZ Call Center in Tijuana have built their operations almost entirely around deported migrants who speak fluent English. Owner Daniel Ruiz, himself a deportee, employs returnees as phone agents serving U.S. clients.
Document recovery is a major hurdle for many deportees. Without a valid Mexican ID (INE credential), birth certificate, or CURP (Mexico’s unique population registry code), returnees cannot open bank accounts, sign rental agreements, or get formal employment. The Funde partnership addresses this gap directly.
The convenience store franchise angle sets the Tecate program apart from other employment initiatives. Rather than placing participants in wage jobs, it offers a route to small business ownership through the Six chain, which operates thousands of stores across Mexico.
This story was first reported by The Baja Post.