Zuha Mirza
Illegal Mexican Immigration
Anthropology 205
Professor Collins
Section 9M3W
Mirza 1
Illegal Mexican Immigration to the U.S
Marsha Blackburn once said "We all learned in kindergarten that the beginning is a very good place to start. As we have this debate on illegal immigration and illegal entry into this country, let 's begin at the very beginning by sealing the borders to this great Nation." This quote is a connotation of the negative attitudes toward illegal aliens that hinder all obstacles just to get to the U.S border. Mexico, which is located to the Southwest of the U.S, is a country inclusive of a distinct culture, language and customs that make it diverse from other countries in the North American continent.
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In the 1975 data, 84 percent of the Mexican illegal aliens were in low skilled jobs- they were farm and non-farm laborers, service workers and operatives- 14 percent were craft workers, and only 1 percent were white collar workers (Chiswick, 99). There is not much of a vast difference in the jobs these Mexicans undertake as they are usually offered the lowly occupations.
One other vital push factor that instigates Mexicans to migrate is the deals made by NAFTA. NAFTA has created dramatic economic dislocations in Mexico. For example, imports of U.S. corn have severely affected the local Mexican agricultural sector. NAFTA arrangements have helped increase the imports from 3 million metric tons in 1994 to more than 5 million metric tons in 2002 (Massey, 1374). Also, the brief rise in outsourced U.S. manufacturing that helped the Mexican economy has ceased as these factories have now moved to Asia. (OXFAM; USDA, Nadal, 2002). A bad economy and among other reasons have resulted to the increased high crime rates in Mexico and thus driving mostly the youths to the United States to look for better jobs which are not easily accessible in their country. "Some 30,000 soldiers and federal police have now been deployed to a dozen states throughout Mexico as part of President Felipe Calderon 's war on drug cartels and organized crime, and Juarez is just the latest front. On March 28, after the murder toll there rose to more than
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/26/257255787/wave-of-illegal-immigrants-gains-speed-after-nafta. NAFTA boosted regional trade but had some undesirable effects. The Mexican government used to subsidize corn. It kept the crop price high so small farmers could stay in business. And it kept corn product prices low so poor people could eat. The trade agreement removed tariffs in order to lower costs and encourage investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Mexican government ended its corn subsidy, and the U.S. government continued to subsidize highly productive American corn producers. Seventy-five thousand Iowa farmers grew twice as much corn as three million Mexican farmers at half the cost. U.S. corn flooded Mexico. Illegal immigration led to massive militarization of the border. In Mexico, manufacturers built new factories for cars, TVs and other goods, replacing some jobs that used to be in the U.S. NAFTA benefited corporations operating in all three countries, but it led to flat or lower wages for the working classes in all three
The article, “Displaced People: NAFTA’s Most Important Product”, written by David Bacon for North American Congress on Latin America, discusses how economic crises have caused Mexicans to be displaced. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has caused the price of crops in Mexico to lower so much that there are no economic benefits from planting them. There are around 500,000 indigenous Mexicans from the state of Oaxaca now living in the United States as farmworkers. The article states that between 2000 and 2005, the countryside in Mexico has lost a million and a half jobs. This causes indigenous Mexicans who relied on planting crops to make money to migrate to the United States. Families that cannot migrate to the United States and are now jobless will go hungry as they search for buyers to buy the crops they grow. While the crops they grow continue to lose money value, the price of the food that they need to survive keeps increasing. After Mexico adopted NAFTA, the price of tortillas has more than doubled and companies continue to monopolize tortilla production. Poor Mexicans are left with no ability to make money and
Marcelo Suárez- Orozco and Mariela M. Páez is the author for this chapter. This section of the book talks about filling low-wage, low-skill jobs Americans avoid. How Latino immigrants are the minimum wage
Undocumented workers tend to work in low-wage jobs. Although they work hard, their income is very low. Illegal immigrants are more likely to work in low-wage farming, cleaning, construction and food preparation because in most of the cases they lack traditional opportunities. Foreign workers represent about 14 percent of both the legal and non-legal US workforce. The typical stereotype of foreign workers is that they take agricultural jobs or service sector mostly earning little more than minimum wage or less in some cases. Immigrants represent more that 35 percent of workers in agricultural industries, construction and maintenance industries. Immigrants represent nearly 30 percent of construction workers. Manufacturing and food processing
Over the past two decades the number of low-skilled workers in the United States has increased because of immigration, both legal and illegal. (Chiswick, 2006)
Mexico is a country where the economy has been low for years, and the violence has been high causing their people to seek jobs, and safety elsewhere. Immigration from Mexico to the United States has always taken place. Mexicans cross the border, either legally or illegally, in search of the American dream. However, since the war against the drug cartels started, back in the year 2000 or so, job opportunities in Mexico keep decreasing, and families struggle to bring food to their tables.
Undocumented Americans are like any other Americans, but with limited freedoms and opportunities as their other American peers. In the United States, undocumented Americans number about 2.1 million, and almost half of them are now adults (Friedman, November 10th, 2016). Many of these undocumented Americans were born in Mexico, moved to the United States and began their lives as American since they were young. This particular group of immigrant youths face uncertain futures clouded by fear and frustration due to the lack of rights, opportunities, and supports from both the general publics and the government. Many undocumented Americans do not fully realize the constraints of their status until they become young adults. Undocumented Americans’
Many presidents have promised to increase government regulation on the ongoing cycle of illegal immigration. However, none of them have succeeded in doing so. It does seem to be an impossible task with thousands crossing every day and many of them fooling the U.S. by getting a working visa then never returning back home. Although this task of illegal immigration seems overwhelming the government needs to be more involved by continuing to build border walls, allowing the states to pass laws to check for citizenship if prompted to, and, if all these actions are carried out lawfully, the U.S. will become a safer place to live.
Due to drugs-related gang violence since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderón entered office, more than 100,000 people have been killed (CNN Library, 2017). Among the major Mexican cartels - Los Zetas Cartel, Gulf Cartel, La and La Familia Michoacana, the Sinaloa Cartel is the most dominant drug trafficking organization in Mexico with an increasing presence in the United States. Roughly 80% of illegal substances like heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana are supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel (Woody, 2016). There have been several attempts of increased pressure from both the U.S. and Mexican governments to disrupt drug trafficking organizations and this has led to significant instability and violence escalating into a national security crisis.
The first immigrants to set foot on American soil where the Europeans, and after the discovery, many other people from around the world began to settle here and make this country their forever home. Since afterward the population of immigrants has increased over the decades because several perceive this country has a place of opportunity to express who they are individually or has a group. several of these groups are more outstanding than other like the Hispanic community, many of these people come from the south travelling thousands of miles, day and night wanting to cross the border that divides the Mexico and the United States. Those who cross the border are risking their lives to get away from the violence in their own country. Others leave their country
Due to the huge number of legal and illegal immigrants in the United States, there have been many debates and arguments about social effects that immigrants has brought upon the U.S. for instance, social services that immigrants can receive such as government benefits for low-income, families and individuals. After the attack on September 11th, the American public has been worried about what social effect that immigrants might have such as crime, national security, and other issues.
There are more than 10 million illegal immigrants living in the United Sates, and each day that number is increasing by 1,400 illegal aliens. An illegal immigrant is a foreigner who either illegally crossed an international political border, whether it was by land, sea or air, or whether it be a foreigner who legally entered a country but nevertheless overstayed their visa in order to live and/or work there. The two focal attractions that the illegal immigrants perceive in the U.S are superior job opportunities, and better living for their families. Several businesses in our Nation are eager to hire cheap, submissive manual labor from overseas. Such businesses are hardly ever penalized due to
Illegal Immigration through Mexican borders has been a challenging issue for policy makers to handle. Some people believe that throwing money towards tightening border security and building a wall will provide the answer. Others believe that allowing more illegal aliens to stay in the United States, thus stealing jobs from U.S. citizens, would be an adequate solution. Another possibility is that NAFTA be reorganized so that it better helps the Mexican economy therefore leading to less illegal aliens desiring to cross the border. However, these issues are all based on the concept that illegal aliens are crossing the border in search of a better life. These solutions fail to recognize the main reason as to why there is a border crisis today
“An immigrant is a person who legally comes to a country to take up permanent residence. An “illegal” immigrant is a person who does so without following the established legal procedures of the destination country and who resides in that country without proper visas or other documents.” (source 1)Illegal immigration is changing the lives of many Americans today, and although all illegal immigrants are not bad and are not here by choice, or to hurt anyone, it still affects us each and every day. Illegal immigration has been a problem for many years, and it seems as if it is impossible to control, but according to former mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York it can be controlled. Giuliani stated
In America illegal Immigration is a major concern that haunts many of the citizens in our