Verified Document

Mexican Immigrants Term Paper

Mexican Immigrants The Effects of Poverty:Mexican Immigrants Living in America for the First Time

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune in August of 2002, at the end of the summer of 2001 one of the Bush administration's major initiatives was amnesty for Mexican illegal immigrants in the United States. The presidents of America and Mexico seemed all but in love, and borders appeared about to dissolve. A year later, at the time the article went to print, it was just after the shock of September 112. The war on terrorism was happening so the question was where did the mammoth Mexican immigration to the United States stand? Also being addressed was the issue of how Americans understood the character and threat of such an unprecedented new invasion by Mexican immigrants?

According to the Center of Immigration Reforms, in the absence of far more direct immigration controls than ever, Mexican immigration has only increased. In 1970 there were less than 800,000 Mexicans in America and by 2000 there were 9 million -- an 11-fold increase.

Perhaps the most disturbing new finding by the center and other groups is the worsening of educational attainment by Mexican immigrants in America. Studies show that among these immigrants, two-thirds lack a high school education compared to 10% among the American mainstream. Only 9.7% of Mexicans have some college education as compared to 28.6% in the American mainstream. Almost 66% of Mexicans here live near the poverty level and 29% at the poverty level compared to figures of 28% and 10% in the American mainstream. In all categories of welfare use, Mexican immigrants both legal and illegal have far higher uses of welfare than mainstream Americans.

Particularly discouraging is the fact, underlined in these new studies by the center; these figures only barely decrease with time spent in America. Of newly arrived Mexican immigrants 71% live at or near the poverty level and after 31 years or more 51% live at or near the poverty level. In fact second-generation immigrants are experiencing a downward mobility and a downward assimilation....

These statistics are overwhelming.
Luis Rodriguez gives a true account of a poverty stricken life in America as a Mexican immigrant. Rodriguez's book Always Running gives real life accounts of life in California, his life of poverty and his eventual joining of a LA gang. Always Running is the account of Luis J. Rodriguez's growing up in poverty in Los Angeles and his ultimate turning to gang life as a means of preservation. The book chronicles his encounters with racism in school and on the streets, and his struggle to overcome prejudice, drugs, and violence. "And if they murder, it's usually the ones who look like them, the ones closest to who they are -- the mirror reflection. They murder and they're killing themselves, over and over."

As the nation's largest destination for immigrants in general and Mexican nationals in particular, Los Angeles needs to prepare quickly to pay the piper for the economic benefits of low-income labor according to two UCLA sociologists. Is this the answer to the poverty stricken Mexican immigrants? Is Los Angeles able to absorb and employ even the least skilled immigrants at a truly impressive rate? It appears just as incapable of offering them a living wage. New immigrants in Urban America indicate serious trouble unless the United State is able to develop the social infastructe to ensure that the children of today's unskilled immigrants do considerably better than their parents. Are the children of Mexican immigrants destined to a life of crime as described by Rodriguez in Always Running? Will the poverty levels increase if the children of the immigrants receive education? These questions and many others are being seriously considered by the government and immigration organizations.

With one-fifth of the nation's immigrants, Los Angeles's attracting the nations largest share of low skilled poorly educated newcomers. Yet thanks to informal social networks built over generations by immigrants, as Rodriguez explained n his book, even the least skilled immigrants from Mexico-LA's largest source-quickly get connected to a job. As in the…

Sources used in this document:
Rodriguez, Luis. Always Running. Salem Press. 1998

Lerner, Andrew. Poverty and Disillusionment Await Los Angeles Immigrant Children. UCLA Journal of Sociology. Janury 2003.

Geyer, Anne. U.S. Border Control. Universal Press syndicates. Chicago Tribune. 2002.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Mexican Immigrants
Words: 1720 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Economic Problems Faced by Mexican Immigrants Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free... " (Lazarus) this excerpt from the inscription found on the statue of liberty represents the idealized version of American immigration. The reality of immigration for many foreign nationals, especially those from Mexico, is a completely different story. For most Mexican immigrants the road to the "American Dream" is an uphill climb, paved

Mexican Immigration Today, a Significant
Words: 1667 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

" To a certain extent, Mexican migration to the U.S. also tends to ease the pressure brought about by significant numbers of unemployed individuals. It is however important to note that although most immigrants in this case are unskilled, some highly skilled immigrants also find their way into the United States. This effectively 'robs' Mexico of a talented workforce in what is often referred to as 'brain drain.' The Mexican

Mexican Religion in the U.S.A.
Words: 1849 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

S. were Protestant and that 18% of them mostly converted from Catholicism (Weiss and Solis 2007). The Hispanic population increased by 28% from 2000 to 2005. The survey identified the reasons why Hispanics would not assimilate and integrate easily or smoothly into the non-Hispanic religious culture in the U.S. Many Hispanics have a different approach to religion. They are generally more devout than non-Hispanics. This attitude derives from a mystical

Mexican Californians After 1848 the
Words: 957 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

In this sense, the structure of the society changed as well. More and more Mexicans became part of the American culture and contributed to its definition. The Mexican family played a major role in creating the sense of multiculturalism inside the society. Unlike the traditional way of life of the American family the Mexican family was quite different. In this sense, "Mexican residents were given one year to move

Mexican Immigration Is One of
Words: 1217 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

A and those policies that are designed to create a social and political situation that is hostile to immigration (California's clause 187, and other means of reducing benefits and access to social security, education, family reunification, and such like). The overall effect of these policies has been to create a situation of greater social and political vulnerability for migrants, both in the course of their crossing the border and in

Mexican Revolutions the Principal Causes
Words: 3199 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

Huerta was very successful in helping Madero defeat Orozco's rebellion, eventually driving Orozco into the United States. However, Madero did not show the type of respect or appreciation that Huerta was expecting for his victory. On the contrary, Madero asked Huerta to account for campaign money. It was this slight that inspired Huerta to work against Madero. Of course, that slight alone would probably not have been sufficient to inspire

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now