Immigration is undoubtedly the root cause for our diverse population. There are factors that contribute to the act of immigration from one’s native country to a foreign country. Factors that contribute to this consist of obtaining a better life for one’s family and acquiring better living circumstances. My family’ immigration story is based on just that. My personal immigration story dates back to the mid 1900’s. A section of my family immigrated to this country as a result of the bracero program. The term bracero can be defined as manual laborer. Author Schaefer (2015) notes that more than 80,000 Mexican nationals were brought in as braceros to grow and harvest crops. My great-grandfather on my father’s side of the family took part in the …show more content…
My great-grandmother was living with her father at that time since her parents were separated. This was quite odd since family life during this time period was quite prominent. The interesting fact of the matter is that my great-grandfather ultimately lied to my great-grandmother in order to convince her to move to Mexico; he told her he was a wealthy man and owned a quantity of lands in Coalcoman, Michoacán. This false information intrigued my great-grandmother and convinced her to marry him and move to Mexico. When my great-grandparents arrived to my great-grandfather’s residency in Mexico, my great-grandmother was shocked to see that his living circumstances were not what he made them out to be. Due to the policy of the bracero program, my grandfather was only able to temporarily stay in the United States as a contracted laborer. He did not acquire his residency status until later on in …show more content…
Life for my parents as first generation Mexican-Born Americans was somewhat grandfathered into a role in a time where America was facing the biggest drug epidemic, racial discrimination against poor working Mexicans, and gender equality roles becoming more present during the Reagan and Bush administration. They grew up on the notion of becoming a better person in modern society and they took advantage of the benefits of education in order to obtain a better job than the one their family was forced to by working in the grape fields for more than thirty years. I recall my grandfather giving the best advice about going to college in order to work in better environmental conditions such as working in an office with the luxuries of an air conditioner. He continued to mold our way of thinking to being better working productive citizens; in that he could trust that we would have our daily bread at the dinner table every night reunited with one’s family. Since that was the biggest struggle for my family when they lived in Mexico, since they never knew if they would partake in decent modest dinner every evening; for that is the main reason that my grandparents and their families immigrated to this country at a fairly young age; so they would not have to endure harsh
During World War II, the United States was in dire need of Mexico and its laborers. The Americans were at war and the labor was needed to supply the soldiers with food as well as to help keep the countries’ agriculture business going. As well, the Mexican government failed to provide many Mexican peasants who were skilled workers with the resources they needed to improve their lives following the Mexican Revolution of 1910. With this being said, by the late 1930’s, many crops in Mexico were insufficient, making those skilled workers look elsewhere for jobs. On August 4th, 1942, the United States and Mexico negotiated a temporary contract to allow Mexican guest workers into the United States. These agricultural and railroad labor contracts were intended to be short-term and terminated once World War II was over. However, after involving over 4.5 million people, it can be said that the longstanding effects of this program contributed to today’s illegal immigration from Mexico. By analyzing the different components involved with The Bracero Program, there will be a deeper understanding to how this intended short-term legal contract
The United States has been known as the “Melting Pot ”and “The Land of Opportunity” for decades, but the title is slowly diminishing as scrutiny has been bombarding immigrants for wanting a better life. As questions arise of what is needed to protect the borders from possible terrorist other factors come into play such as what immigrants have to contribute to the country. Immigration is actually vital to our country since it provides the government more income, it brings the country a positive image, and DACA helps the community come together.
“I do not believe that many American citizens . . . really wanted to create such immense human suffering . . . in the name of battling illegal immigration” (Carr 70). For hundreds of years, there has been illegal immigration starting from slavery, voluntary taking others from different countries to work in different parts of the world, to one of the most popular- Mexican immigration to the United States. Mexican immigration has been said to be one of the most common immigration acts in the world. Although the high demand to keep immigrants away from crossing the border, Mexicans that have immigrated to the U.S have made an impact on the American culture because of their self sacrifices on the aspiration to cross over. Then conditions
Immigrants were first welcomed in the late 1700s. European explorers like Walter Raleigh, Lord Baltimore, Roger William, William Penn, Francis Drake, John Smith, and others explored to the New World for religious purposes and industrial growth. The first European settlers that settled in the late 1700s were the Pilgrims. After the Pilgrims first settled in Virginia, the expansion of immigrants started. Then in 1860 to 1915, America was growing with its industries, technology, and education. America’s growing empire attracted many people from Europe. The factors that attracted many people to the American cities where job opportunities with higher income, better education, and factory production growth. As the population grew in the American
The American dream, as some may call it, is a cherished idea by those who may lack opportunities. For those in Mexico, it is something that is sure to have crossed their minds sometime in their life. The United States, to foreigners, has been looked at as a sign of opportunity and freedom from oppressive governments or unfortunate living conditions. The Other Side of Immigration takes a look at the Mexican nation and provides thought-provoking interview segments about the people still living in the nation who experience and observe the effects of immigration to the United States.
Portes, Alejandro, and Ruben G. Rumbaut. Immigrant America: A Portrait. N.p.: University of California Press, 2006.
The US Bracero Program, which was operational from 1942 to 1964, allowed for the importation of workers from Mexico to work on farms in the US. Although the objective of the program was to replace illegal labour with guest workers, critics argue that the program contributed to further illegal migration (Basok, 2000, p. 217). Critics say that the Bracero Program added to undocumented immigration via providing braceros with sufficient knowledge for permanent migration, establish contacts and relationships with Mexican-American communities in the US, as well as allowing braceros to improve their living standards, raising their overall expectations (Basok, 2000, p. 217-218). During the tenure of the Bracero program, five million Mexican workers were deported from the US; these workers included rejected Bracero program candidates and former braceros who failed to return to Mexico (Basok, 2000, p. 217). An important factor that contributed to the Bracero program based illegal migration was the nature of the recruitment process. With neoliberal ideology concerned with extrapolating the highest potential of profit, the US government preferred to recruit workers at the border for logistical reasons such as a reduction in transportation and fewer delays in hiring workers (Basok, 2000, p. 223). Even with the Mexican government recommending placing recruitment centres in impoverished states in the central regions of Mexico, the US still recruited workers at the border, ultimately leading to large numbers of unselected Mexican workers to cross the border illegally (Basok, 2000, p. 222-223). The US earned criticism from organized labour and social reform and human rights organizations. Many of these organizations outlined critical issues of the Bracero program such as growers not making an effort to recruit domestic
Kessner, Thomas and Betty Boyd Caroli, “Today’s Immigrants, Their Stories.” Kiniry and Rose 343-346. Print.
Humans have a never ending thirst for a better life, and a better existence for themselves and those they hold dear. Jose Antonio Vargas was sent away from the Philippines by his mother hoping that he would be able to achieve a better life, and be happy. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas is able to find his better life and happiness in America but also fear and anxiety. Vargas gives us a look into the life of an illegal immigrant the good, the bad, their achievements and their constant struggles. Very much like Vargas my father immigrated to America, but legally in 1986.
Illegal immigration has been an issue in this country since its founding. However, in recent years, more and more people are deciding that the conditions in their native countries are too dangerous and impossible to overcome, so they decide to take on the journey to try and enter the United States, “the land of opportunity”, without the proper documentation. In the novel Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario, we see first hand the expedition many of these people take in order to fulfill their dreams of helping the families they leave behind. Many of these people, like Lourdes and Enrique, come thinking that the “American Dream” will be easily obtained through hard work. Unfortunately, times have changed, and this promise of riches is no longer the norm. Those undocumented immigrants that are lucky enough to make it to the United States are faced with a harsh hit of reality when they realize that the perception they had build of America, with an abundance of jobs, is actually flooded by poverty and an unsteady job market.
Where I am from, coming to America is an unachievable dream for most people; however, that dream became attainable to me one summer. When my father told my family and me that we were moving to America, I was very excited and I thought about a lot of things. I thought about all of the opportunities there were in the U.S. and how rich everyone must be. I also thought that everyone in the U.S. lived in big houses, and every school had a swimming pool. Most of what I conceived about America came from watching television, and a month later I would find out how wrong I was.
Through the history and trends of Latin American immigration, one can begin to understand the impact of immigration on American society. Latin American countries have not always been the leading countries of origin for immigrants to the United States; however, with the Immigration and Nationality Act, they surpassed European countries’ immigration and rose to the top (1). Subsequently, a number of Hispanics ca...
At a young age, my teachers and parents taught me to believe that I could do and accomplish anything that I set my mind to. I grew up thinking that I was unstoppable and that the only limit to my achievements was the sky. However, during my second year in high school, I began to realize that I was not as unstoppable as I had thought. I began to experience the consequences of my parent’s decision of bringing me to the United States illegally. Among those consequences were, not being able to apply for a job, obtain a driver’s license or take advantage of the dual enrollment program at my high school, simply because I did not possess a social security number. I remember thinking that all of my hard work was in vain and that I was not going to
"Immigrants and the American Dream." Society 33.n1 (Nov-Dec 1995):3(3). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale University. 26 Sep. 2006.
United States usually known as the “melting pot” and it is a typical immigrant country. In the past 400 years, United States has become a mixture of more than 100 ethnic groups. Immigrants bring they own dream and come to this land, some of them looking for better life for themselves and some want to make some money to send back home or they want their children to grow up in better condition. Throughout the history there’s few times of large wave of immigration and it is no exaggeration to say that immigrants created United States. For this paper I interview my neighbor and his immigration story is pretty interesting.