The Other Side Of Immigration

During the mid and late twentieth century a major Mexican immigration Boom happened. With many job opportunities in the agricultural field in the United States and an economy in mexico that was growing but only benefited the rich. Many poor Mexicans migrated to the United States. According to the book, “Mexican Immigrants In The United States” by Portes, Alejandro, Bach, Robert L. Between 1960 and 1970 the Mexican economy was growing at a rapid rate with only the top 5 percent benefiting from it. Unemployment and underemployment began to spread and income inequality got even wider. These events led to a migration of legal and illegal Mexican immigrant into the United States. Mexico became an economic paradise for those who were already wealthy. The rest who were left behind had no other choice than to

“Becoming American” is short film that informs the viewer about the process of immigrants getting jobs in America. Immigrants both gain and lose many aspects of what make them who they are when coming to America. This film teaches many things that people don’t probably know about Hispanic immigrants and allows others to understand what immigrants stand for.

The liberal side of the immigration debate supports legal immigration, increasing the number of legal immigrants permitted to enter the U.S. each year, and blanket amnesty for current illegal immigrants. Liberals believe that regardless of how they came to the U.S., illegal immigrants deserve things like U.S. government financial aid for college tuition and visas for spouse/children to come to the U.S. They believe that families shouldn’t be separated and that many illegal immigrants do the jobs that the average American does not want to do (Primeaux). The liberals are also strongly against laws such as Arizona’s SB 1070 and believe that such laws only encourage racial profiling and are unconstitutional.

Republicans and Democrats have been fighting over the issue of immigration since the 1900s. Immigration has been an issue declared by both Democrats and Republicans alike over debates, elections and even the presidency. Each political party has different viewpoints of immigration and how it effects society and the U.S. as a whole. Immigration is the great division between two opinions. These two sides are: one being people that are accepting with immigrants coming in and out of the U.S., while the others say there shouldn’t be any immigrants coming to the U.S. Both parties have different stances on these issues, however, neither are as reliable as the facts.

The phenomenal growth farming, minding, railroad construction, and commercial fishing all have a story of transnational families and shattered dreams. With the coming of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, many mexicans fled north to the United States in order to escape the bloodshed in search of new lives. Sadly their dream for a better life did not come true. Migrant workers work for low wages in extreme conditions such as extreme heat, discomfort, and danger, as well as struggling to have a stable life for their families. The disastrous great depression left many people unemployed. As a result, a large number of caucasian people took over many migrant workers’ jobs in California. This left many Mexicans and Filipinos desperate and willing to do anything for money. Farm workers were often unpaid and were denied the right to unionize, a right that all other American workers enjoyed. Migrant workers are from different ethnicities such as Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, Europeans, but most of the population is made up of Mexican migrant workers. Migrant workers lived a very harsh work environment as well as a harsh society interactions. Mexican farm workers were offered a legally binding work contract, but the majority suffered gross abuses of their labor rights and racial discrimination. Migrant workers have always played a vital role in the US economy, so they should not be treated as illegal or undeserving individuals. People have always harassed migrant workers and soon it

Many in Mexico had difficulties in finding or maintaining a job that could support their family, as a result families started to flee the country “finding employment in the secondary US economy (Rank 2001) – undervalued jobs, characterized by erratic hours, cash payment and no benefits such as health care” which seemed like the only option poverty-stricken families had (Cleaveland 567). The author Elliot Barken says that families were “Fleeing extreme poverty, [and] many made their way northward to seek work and provide for their families back in Mexico after the economic crisis swept across Mexico in

In the midst of presidential elections, several candidates have spoken up about immigration policies in the United States. As a Mexican-American citizen, I have personally experienced the transition from one country to another and have come to realize that just as me, there are many immigrants with different stories behind why they chose California as a home. This state in the West Coast has been categorized as a venue in which the “California Dream” is possible to achieve. However, there is not just one dream or one cause; there is diversity among the population and thus, there is also diversity among causes and outcomes immigrants have.

This fear increased as The Great Depression approached (Hoffnung-Garskof, 2007). In the 1930’s, Michigan officials felt that it was their duty to solve the issue at hand. “Ethnic cleansing” was their solution, and as a result, unemployed Mexicans were deported. After the depression, America found a way to kick start the economy again. The sugar beet industry was once again flourishing. Minimum wage was established, and manufacturers smuggled in Mexican workers to help. In 1957, the migrant worker population increased to 106,000 people in Michigan (Hoffnung-Garskof, 2007). The Mexican people migrated to the U.S. in search of better lives. They were an active part in the building of the United States economy and our culture.

To begin, in the text, “Mexican Migrant Workers in the 20th Century,” the setting goes over how, “Workers continued to move to California and other southwest states,” explaining the location of most of the

In the article,”Bring on More Immigrants Entrepreneurs,” Shayan Zaden views America as a land of opportunity but lost potential.

Every year, millions of immigrants come into the United States. Generally, the United States policies are complex but the topic of immigration in the country is far more complicated to understand. Currently, the topic is extremely controversial yet the government has been trying to avoid addressing it for quite a while now. Nevertheless, it is very rare for a candidate to make immigration policy part of his platform but in the 2016 presidential election Donald Trump even made it part of his campaign which caused world-wide controversy. Trump claimed that he would “make America great again” and create a high security wall along the border between Mexico and the United States. Nevertheless, any decision taken by the government will affect everyone in the country, whether in a positive or negative manner, as “an estimated 11.4 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States in January 2012 compared to 11.5 million in January 2011.” The numbers keep increasing every day

Although this article was very influential detailing the thoughts and lives of Mexican migrants through the hardships they face, it only described the one side of the experience where America is like a melting pot. In order to get a full sense of newly immigrated workers, it would have been nice to see them develop a perspective of some of the multicultural aspects of moving to America, highlighting some of the positive

The Mexican revolutionary war brought a flow of Mexicans into America due to America’s thriving economy and Mexico’s crippling. Crops in Mexico weren’t producing enough and employment was dwindling. Faced with the struggle of survival many Mexicans looked for hope in the north. In America, life seemed to be going well. Although World War I was going on at the time and most people were overseas, this allowed for Mexicans to find many job opportunities. Especially in the making of the railways. Many Mexican agencies pushed its citizens to make the trek to America. But for this to happen Mexicans had to sign a contract, this contract also happened to grant the workers with certain rights from the Mexican constitution and it also allowed them to bring their families. This time period saw thousands of Mexicans come into America, “Between 1910 and 1930, the number of Mexican immigrants counted by the U.S. census tripled from 200,000 to 600,000.” (?) In a way the border of El Paso served as an Ellis island, but most of the time with Mexico being so close workers returned home. However in the 1930s the Great Depression hit America. Now even more than ever were Mexicans were struggling to survive but they were also faced with a greater issue, deportation. People were rounded by the thousands and shipped off to Mexico. Many of which were U.S born citizens. Over 400,000 Mexican and Mexican Americans were sent back to Mexico in hopes of this helping the great depression in other words

Up to the present time, a strong connection exists between the Mexican and American labor markets most outstandingly the workforce market of California. By the year 1980, an approximate percentage of 20 percent of the California’s population was from Mexico. In the first part of the twentieth century, there was a colossal exodus of people from Mexico. It approximates that from the year 1910 to 1930, over 1.5 million Mexicans moved to the USA with about 40 percent moving to Northern California at least temporarily. In Mexico at around this period, there were disruptions from the military revolutions and the many rebellions taking place. Such factors effectively, “pushed” the Mexicans. They were also “pulled” to the United States owing to the improving and rising standards of living, mostly in the agricultural sector (Pries, 2004).

In the 1930s was the Great Depression, and many Mexican immigrants would be working in the fields, doing farm work. According to this article, NFWM (National Farm Work Industry), states that “Due to the Great Depression, more than 500,000 Mexican Americans were deported or pressured to leave during the Mexican Repatriation, and the number of farm workers of Mexican descent decreased” (NFWM). This is the perhaps the reason why that later in the 1960s, Mexican immigrants population had decreased due to deportation. The Mexican farmers living conditions during the time was poor (how) . According to this website, Library of Congress, published an article called “Immigration” stated that during the depression, “Bank foreclosures drove small farmers from their land, and large landholders cut back on their permanent workforce.