What is the experience of a Latin American immigrant in the United States?

This paper introduces social justice issues such as unequal employment opportunities that Hispanics are faced with daily in the United States, including recommendations for changes and/ or enhancing the Hispanic employment opportunities and communities. The social system affected by unequal employment opportunities for Hispanics and any ethical implication will be addressed. Inclusive are the various theoretical perspective

The decision of moving to the United States (US), for many Latino immigrants is due to their economic situation in their native country. Some of those Latino immigrants relied on farming as a way of earning their living. For many Latinos, helping at the family farm or working for someone at their farm usually begins at an early age, as a consequence, it does not allow for individuals to attain a higher level of education. Farm work usually tends to consist of high physical activity with minimal pay. Sadly for some Latinos, these conditions remain the same once they arrive at the US and settle in non-urban areas (Berdahl, Kirby, & Stone, 2007). In addition due to the different harvest seasons of crops, Latino immigrants working in US farms had to relocate constantly from season to season. This is an example of what Latino immigrants may encounter once they moved to the US (Kline, 2013). The example does not clearly display the challenges and needs of the Latino immigrant, which include stress due to the enforcement of immigration policies towards undocumented immigrants (Rodríguez, Ramirez, & Rodriguez, 2014). As Latino immigrants may work at a farm that would indicate that they live in or near the farm. Usually on rural areas with farming communities without hospitals nearby, much less dental care facilities (Kline, 2013). In the case that a health clinic was available, the Latino immigrants’ faced

As the population of Latin America and the Caribbean raised in 1995 with a 190 percent increase (Gonzalez 199), the job markets in Mexico are becoming scarce and competitive. The living conditions of residents in provincial towns like in Cheran, “whose timber-based economy is in tatters” (Martinez 9) are greatly affected. Mexican immigrant workers are forced to cross the border and find a greener pasture in the United States, because “in 1994, Mexico was crippled by a profound-and-prolonged-economic crisis” (Martinez 8). With the huge influx of Mexican immigrant workers coming to the States in search for better jobs, the US citizens are concerned about the economic impact: jobs, government and public services. However, the Americans’ concern that the immigrants are draining the nation’s resources, is a sweeping statement, it is based on a myth. There are many recent studies that the immigrant’s population living in the United States helps the economy. Similarly, the Mexican government and immigrant families are grateful for their immigrant workers for lifting the ailing economy and the status of immigrant families. Immigrant workers, legal or illegal, are positively reshaping the economy of sending and receiving countries through these major myths.

Despite their better standing, the research has surprisingly found that they are “only slightly more likely than those whose parents were first-generation immigrants to have had some education beyond high school or to report household or personal incomes above $25,000” (28). These differences in educational and occupational attainment may be attributed to the overcrowded, underfunded inner-city schools second and third generation Latinos attend or to the fact that young Latinos feel economic pressure to drop out of school to get a job and financially assist their families; thus, keeping them in lower occupational ranks since the well-paid professional positions require a higher educational standard. These results are a bit disheartening, but nonetheless, the educational attainment of Latinos is still in a positive trend since we are seeing a slow, yet gradual increase of educational attainment.

To elaborate, the farmworkers have been laboring day and night, even when their bodies are in pain. As stated by a young girl, named Carmen, “‘She (mom) doesn’t want to see me work there (in the fields), … she says because it’s a lot of work, … She doesn’t want me to go through what she goes through (in the fields). She says it’s really painful, hard work. Every night I massage her back so that she can feel better in the morning.’” As migrant worker, children who work and go to school, never have the chance to have a full education or experiences with friends. We know this because NBC’s Child Labor: Young Hands Picking Our Food states, “Critics of current U.S. labor law say these childhood dreams are jeopardized by a relentless cycle where young workers drop out of school to follow their families and the crops for work and then remain stuck in the fields because the children never finish their high school education.” Also, the Braceros during WWII worked hard, however, their paychecks seem to always show signs of deduction. We know this from the article, The Realities of Life and Labor, in which a man stated, “‘Sometimes the check stubs indicate the deduction and sometimes they

The Berkeley findings also show a case where a Florida employer threatened hundreds of Mexican and Guatemalan workers to harvest fruit. It also shows a case where a Washington D.C. couple brought Cameroonian teenagers to work fourteen hours a day as domestic servants, without pay while threatening them with deportation. The teenagers were promised a better education (Gilmore 2).

They help to preserve the societal status quo by, firstly, legitimating the exploitation of immigrants, secondly, diverting workers’ attention from the true cause of their insecure position, thirdly, splitting the labor movement and weakening class consciousness” (Castles and Kosack, 460). The first function, in particular, is practiced within American society. For instance, Mexican immigrants are subject to work in inferior labor jobs that do not pay well. Illegal immigrants are treated almost inhumane having to do low paying jobs such a meat packing that causes injuries and disease among

Mexican immigration has a large impact on the United States both politically and economically. Focusing on the labor market, and how over history, especially throughout the 20th century, American employers in various industries, have benefited from the immigrant workers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Recognizing the value of immigrants willing to work various job positions for low wages, during worker shortages in America. In the 1990s alone the number of Mexican Immigrants workers grew by 2.9 million, a 123 % increase. (PP.

In Linda Chavez’s, “Hispanics and the American Dream” she starts by showing the growth of Hispanics in America and how they are depicted. She sees them as a valuable part of society that is steadily climbing to new heights on the socioeconomic ladder, yet the population perceives them to be the lower end and will likely remain that way. She goes on to prove this assumption by the way Hispanics are shown in the media, which states that poor and Hispanic goes hand in hand when thought of. What is failed to be seen is that most Hispanics are steadily in the middle class, but this varies within the group just as it does with all races. The analysts take into consideration the immigrants who have just entered America, legal or illegal, which in turn causes the balance to shift towards the poor side of the spectrum. Our overall perception of Hispanics plays a role in their place in society.

Many workers work in jobs that pay them under the table or in horrible conditions. “Latino households can expect to earn 70 cents to a dollar less than the average white person makes. Hispanic households make 12 cents to a dollar less than white non-Hispanic people” (Schaefer, 2012, P. 224). With Latinos and Hispanics working under the table, they are not making as much as they would make if they were earning a paycheck legally. Since they are also sending money home to their families they have very little left of what they do earn for themselves. “Out of the last quarter century, the proportion of Latinos in poverty has been two or three times that of white non-Hispanics” (Schaefer, 2012, P. 224). With the average American battling to stay above the poverty line, more of the Latino and Hispanic communities are below it because of the financial obstacles in the way. Latino and Hispanic populations have been rapidly growing in the United States. “In 1975 congress addressed citizens with multilingual backgrounds” (Schaefer, 2012, P. 226). Many Latino and Hispanic Americans want to become legal so they can participate in the political position of being a United States citizen. Latino and Hispanic Americans want to be able to vote in upcoming elections. Since the increase in their population and the decision of congress in 1975; more ballots are being made to be English and Spanish depending on the particular country, city or state (Schaefer, 2012, P.

Although it is true that any ethnic group could improve our economy. I appoint my attention more towards our Hispanic community mainly due to the fact that the Hispanic community is the fastest growing population as of current. On September 18, 2015, published by New American Economy, an article, “Four Ways the Hispanic Markets Makes an Impact on the Economy” written by Rene Almazan explains how big our hispanic populations’ influence on our

According to the research The Wage structure of Latino-Origin Groups across Generations, the research focuses on Mexicans, South/Central America and Puerto Ricans vs. Whites and African Americans. Perhaps, one of the weaknesses is that the data obtained is based on men and not on women. Also, another weakness could be the dropping of the Self-employed from analysis due to reliable information. But, their answers will help to understand another sector of their economy by taking the self-employment Latinos (Fry, R., & Lowell, L.,

This article is about undocumented immigrants that works in low paying jobs and the point of this article is to inform me as the reader that these undocumented workers are struggling to care for their families. These undocumented workers pays taxes, but do not receive the benefits they deserve. The author emphasized that since they are in the workforce, they contribute to the economy. The article mentioned that lack of education, language barrier and legal status plays a major part in the workforce for undocumented immigrants. The author went on the different types of jobs that most undocumented people takes part in, and also how less desirable jobs are offered to undocumented low-skilled immigrants. Even though they are not allowed to work, they somehow play a significant role on the

Bean, “Mexican immigrants generally can find work more easily in the United States than can members of other immigrant groups”, but I believe that the reason Mexican immigrants typically find jobs quicker than other immigrants is because they settle for any job opportunity that comes their way (427). The jobs that they settle for are usually the one that people tend to avoid, for instance field labor, most try to avoid this because of the working conditions (weather, time, and difficulty). Another statement made by the authors that I feel does not represent the entire Mexican immigrant population is when they stated that Mexican immigrants see welfare benefits as temporary, although they’re many whom see it as a temporary fix there are other who heavily rely on the assistance given to them (Hook and Bean, 428). Many rely on government assistance to make ends meet whether it’s to put food on the table or even to pay the water bill. Even though there were some statements made that I do not agree with, there were also ones that I did support. One statement that strengthen this article was the breakdown of how they selected their sample. To make the sample a more accurate representation of the population, they eliminated individuals that did not fit the immigrant classification, such as people who lived the United States outlying areas. This article had some weak points and strong points that led to some valuable

Although Latin America has faced many social, political, and economic issues within the last three centuries, inequality remains one of the most important, historical, and omnipresent aspects of the region’s culture. As Europeans took over Latin America during the time of colonization, they implemented many elitist social structures that have held strong and are evident today (Harris). Income inequality is the most visible and greatest disparity that the region faces; yet inequality between gender, ethnicities, and education remain strong and significant problems with a necessity for improvement. Inequality of wealth and disparity of power and influence are Latin American’s greatest curses and are at the root of many of the