Research Paper on "Possible Influence of Latin Migration in the American Way of Life"

Research Paper 12 pages (3079 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Latin American Migration in the American Way of Life

Latin immigration was not a major problem in the beginning to the United States.

It was even encouraged for the construction of the railroad system across the borders. Mexican workers were also recruited to fill labor force shortages under the Bracero Accord. But when the labor supply stabilized, immigration policies became restrictive and discouraged the flow of migrants into the U.S. The Immigration Reform and Control Act or IRCA is a main example. Mexican immigration became a cause for concern in the 1900s due to world events, which affected the U.S. The U.S. was sending its men to the First World War. Businesses faced a problem about laborers. Women must fill the job vacancies left by men but also worried about the care and education of their children. Furthermore, they had to spend more for daycare. Minors could not be employed, especially in severely-affected sectors like agriculture, because of child labor laws. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 imposed minimum ages for employment in the agriculture sector.

Guest worker programs between the U.S. And Mexico were created initially for Mexican men only.

They were to work in the railroads and agriculture with the women tending to the home and children. The migration process was either temporary or permanent. Temporary migration was "insufficient for the full subsistence of a household," while permanent migration had "permanent work opportunities in the place of destination."

With better education and career opportunities, the American population became less willing to work in service sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing. The migrants were more willing to take these low-paying jobs despite minimum or no benefits. The Mexican economy has been improving and education programs may now be available for its citizens. But Mexico has yet to improve wages, working conditions and benefits for citizens. It has remained a labor-surplus nation. Legal migrants are willing to leave their families to work in the U.S. Illegal migrants take serious risks to work in the U.S. Both groups want these opportunities and better living standards. Meantime, critics of migration issues believe that these guest proposals will not solve but even increase illegal migration. It will increase the burden to American society by spending more for the educational and health services of these new migrants. It is also a social process that cannot just be switched off. Mexico can no longer afford to stand pat on a "no-policy" policy and the U.S. On making unilateral decisions on these issues, which affect both countries. Mexico wants to improve living and working conditions for Mexican migrants. On the other hand, the U.S. wants to control illegal migration while providing labor for sectors needing it.

These are the respective goals to bring to the bargaining table.

Literature Review

Jargowsky writes that the concentration of poverty is a growing reality, which demands attention and amelioration. It has been observed that the concentration of immigrants, especially low-income ones, in high-poverty areas, like Los Angeles Long Beach in California in the 1990s. These newcomers are exposed to existing problems of crime, gangs, drug and alcohol abuse, poor housing and inefficient schools. But previous research, however, proposed that the concentration of immigrants can have advantages, especially to non-speakers of the dominant language. New Immigrant neighborhoods in these areas introduce parallel institutions, vernacular information networks, and cultural practice needed for a transition into a new society. However, Mexican immigrants do not transition as quickly as other immigrants from high to low-poverty neighborhoods. Poverty among Hispanics in these neighborhoods reduce economic chances of their succeeding generation. They are less likely to be employed and receive lower wages if they live in the metropolitan areas. They are exposed to high-poverty neighborhoods in these areas. Nonetheless, they and other Newly arriving immigrants who live even in the poorest neighborhoods believe that this new home offers better opportunities than the one they left behind. But the high-level poverty concentration in the areas, the social disorganization, poor quality of schooling and interactions among the neighborhoods should argue that the situation is far from benign.

Hanson and McIntosh

examined the impact of labor-supply shocks to the labor exodus from Mexico into the U.S. The overflow in the last 25 or so years brought the two countries into intense policy debates. Mexicans comprised a third of all immigrants in the U.S. after 1980. Today, 1/5 of young working-age Mexican males live in the U.S. In the meantime. The differential growth in labor supply from Mexico to the U.S. between 1960 and 1984 can explain the observed-1/3 Mexican migration between 1977-2000. In the meantime, population growth in Mexico sharply decreased, the sharpest on record. The differential labor supply is then expected to begin falling. Hence, the shocks of only a decade ago are no longer experienced. Emigration responds better to the labor supply differences between the countries in States with stronger historical migration networks. Current migrants will tend to ease migration for ensuing generations, hence emigration from Mexico will tend to increase for some time.

The Migration Policy Institute and the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute and Division of United States Studies discussed the nature and significance of Latino immigration.

This was to fill in the lack of information in Samuel Huntington's "The Hispanic Challenge," published in the March-April issue of Foreign Policy. Discussants initially reminded the audiences about the inherent distaste and disrespect for immigrants by the collective American consciousness. There too are racial stereotypes and the fear of others marked throughout American history. These were part of current reactions towards Latino immigration. One Latino participant pointed out that Latino immigrants in the last decade settled in areas where few of them had settled. The merging of Latino workers flattened wages for these new immigrants and earlier immigrants who have worked in the U.S. For several years. Immigrants are, therefore, disfavored as taking the jobs of native-born Americans.

A demographic analyst disagreed to Huntington's suggestion about the huge numbers of Mexican immigrants in the U.S.

She commented that foreign-born

Hispanics comprised only 9% of the total U.S. population in 1990 and only 11% in 2000. Despite the increase in Mexican immigration in recent years, Latinos represented only 9.2 million of the foreign-born population, of 31.1 million foreign-born American residents, and the overall population of 281.4 million. The absorption of Mexican immigrants has not been uniform among the States. Another delegate deplored the disparaging attitude towards Latino immigrants for failing to learn English and earning college degrees. Those with this attitude also vote against bilingual education and affirmative action programs. He cited data on the advantages of maintaining and encouraging bilingualism among young Americans as contributing to higher grades and reducing dropouts. Students who remain bilingual are viewed as better able to utilize support structures in their indigenous communities. They are also less likely to lose emotional connection with them. Another delegate emphasized the contribution of Latino immigrants to the American economy. He said that the nearly $30 billion remittances of Latino immigrants to their families in Mexico in 2003 accounted only for 4-5% of their income working in the U.S. While large sums flow to the Latin American economies from the U.S., most of the earnings of Latin immigrants in the U.S. are reinvested there.

The delegates discussed the other problems mentioned by Huntington in connection with Mexican migration.

One was falling investment in public education, which weakened the infrastructure established by previous immigrants. This infrastructure acculturated them into the American way of life. The educational role of media and foreign policy regarding scholarships to Latino immigrants were the other problems taken up.

Citrin and his team went farther by testing Huntington's hypotheses.

Huntington contended that the sheer volume, concentration, linguistic homogeneity, and other relevant characteristics of Hispanic immigrants tend to weaken and erode the dominance of English as the national and nationally unifying language. These will weaken American cultural values, and promote ethnic allegiances over a primarily American identity. Citrin and his team gathered data from the U.S. Census and conducted national and local opinion surveys in Los Angeles to test Huntington's hypotheses. Their investigation showed that second-generation Hispanics acquire English and lose grasp of native Spanish fast. They acquire a comparable work ethic with that of U.S.-born whites. Most of these Hispanics reject a purely ethnic identification. Their loyalty is to their generation. A traditional pattern of political assimilation seems prevalent at present.

Huntington believes that the American national identity is going through destabilizing changes, which threaten America's national integrity and capability to achieve its goals.

And he identifies Mexican immigration as the main or only source of this threat. He sees American identity as a fusion of democracy as its political creed and an "Anglo-Protestant" culture. This "Anglo-Protestant" culture consists of the English language, religious commitment, individualism, a strong work ethic, and a sense of obligation to a better life. Mexican immigrants' high immigration and birth rates, shared and retained language and religion and concentration in the southwest region close to their… READ MORE

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