Mexican Immigration Thesis

Mexican immigrants, along with their Mexican American descendants, occupy a unique

position in the story of U.S. immigration. They are known by many different names, come from divergent origins, and took widely different paths to becoming part of the United States. The flow of Mexican immigrants to the U.S. has been impacted by the economic crisis and the anti-immigrant laws that began with the passing of a law in Arizona, but Mexican immigrants are vital to the U.S. economy, contributing about 4 percent to GDP. Millions of people in the United States today identify themselves as Mexican immigrants or Mexican Americans. Mexican immigrants and their descendants now make up a significant portion of the U.S. population and have become one of the most influential social and cultural groups in the country.

This problem can be changed on how we let people in and out of the borders because since 1980, Mexicans have been the largest immigrant group in the United States. “Mexican immigrants are more likely to be employed in service occupations (31 percent); natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (25 percent); and production, transportation, and material moving occupations (22

for better paying jobs or perhaps a better life. They were not only willing to pick up and leave Mexico, but they were willing to call a foreign place home. For many Mexicans who believed that things would go well for them in the U.S., that dream was not realized. Today restrictions on Mexicans are continued to be enforced and propositions to deny them benefits re-appear. Julian Nava best describes this relationship between the United States and the Mexican immigrant saying that, "in history, the U.S., a mighty nation with high principles, has eagerly sought workers from across the border and, after benefiting from their labor, has rejected them coldly, making Mexicans feel like unwanted things, rather than