Crossing the Border

Crossing the Border

Author: Jorge Durand

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation

Published: 2004-08-11

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1610441737

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Discussion of Mexican migration to the United States is often infused with ideological rhetoric, untested theories, and few facts. In Crossing the Border, editors Jorge Durand and Douglas Massey bring the clarity of scientific analysis to this hotly contested but under-researched topic. Leading immigration scholars use data from the Mexican Migration Project—the largest, most comprehensive, and reliable source of data on Mexican immigrants currently available—to answer such important questions as: Who are the people that migrate to the United States from Mexico? Why do they come? How effective is U.S. migration policy in meeting its objectives? Crossing the Border dispels two primary myths about Mexican migration: First, that those who come to the United States are predominantly impoverished and intend to settle here permanently, and second, that the only way to keep them out is with stricter border enforcement. Nadia Flores, Rubén Hernández-León, and Douglas Massey show that Mexican migrants are generally not destitute but in fact cross the border because the higher comparative wages in the United States help them to finance homes back in Mexico, where limited credit opportunities makes it difficult for them to purchase housing. William Kandel's chapter on immigrant agricultural workers debunks the myth that these laborers are part of a shadowy, underground population that sponges off of social services. In contrast, he finds that most Mexican agricultural workers in the United States are paid by check and not under the table. These workers pay their fair share in U.S. taxes and—despite high rates of eligibility—they rarely utilize welfare programs. Research from the project also indicates that heightened border surveillance is an ineffective strategy to reduce the immigrant population. Pia Orrenius demonstrates that strict barriers at popular border crossings have not kept migrants from entering the United States, but rather have prompted them to seek out other crossing points. Belinda Reyes uses statistical models and qualitative interviews to show that the militarization of the Mexican border has actually kept immigrants who want to return to Mexico from doing so by making them fear that if they leave they will not be able to get back into the United States. By replacing anecdotal and speculative evidence with concrete data, Crossing the Border paints a picture of Mexican immigration to the United States that defies the common knowledge. It portrays a group of committed workers, doing what they can to realize the dream of home ownership in the absence of financing opportunities, and a broken immigration system that tries to keep migrants out of this country, but instead has kept them from leaving.


Mexican Immigration to the United States

Mexican Immigration to the United States

Author: George J. Borjas

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2007-11-01

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 0226066681

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From debates on Capitol Hill to the popular media, Mexican immigrants are the subject of widespread controversy. By 2003, their growing numbers accounted for 28.3 percent of all foreign-born inhabitants of the United States. Mexican Immigration to the United States analyzes the astonishing economic impact of this historically unprecedented exodus. Why do Mexican immigrants gain citizenship and employment at a slower rate than non-Mexicans? Does their migration to the U.S. adversely affect the working conditions of lower-skilled workers already residing there? And how rapid is the intergenerational mobility among Mexican immigrant families? This authoritative volume provides a historical context for Mexican immigration to the U.S. and reports new findings on an immigrant influx whose size and character will force us to rethink economic policy for decades to come. Mexican Immigration to the United States will be necessary reading for anyone concerned about social conditions and economic opportunities in both countries.


Mexican Workers and American Dreams

Mexican Workers and American Dreams

Author: Camille Guerin-Gonzales

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9780813520483

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Earlier in this century, over one million Mexican immigrants moved to the United States, attracted by the prospect of work in California's fields. The Mexican farmworkers were tolerated by Americans as long as there was enough work to go around. During the Great Depression, though, white Americans demanded that Mexican workers and their families return to Mexico. In the 1930s, the federal government and county relief agencies forced the repatriation of half a million Mexicans--and some Mexican Americans as well. Camille Guerin-Gonzales tells the story of their migration, their years here, and of the repatriation program--one of the largest mass removal operations ever sanctioned by the U.S. government. She exposes the powers arrayed against Mexicans as well as the patterns of Mexican resistance, and she maps out constructions of national and ethnic identity across the contested terrain of the American Dream.


Becoming Mexican American

Becoming Mexican American

Author: George J. Sanchez

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 1995-03-23

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13: 9780195096484

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Twentieth century Los Angeles has been the focus of one of the most profound and complex interactions between distinct cultures in U.S. history. In this pioneering study, Sanchez explores how Mexican immigrants "Americanized" themselves in order to fit in, thereby losing part of their own culture.


The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Author: Richard Griswold del Castillo

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 1992-09-01

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780806124780

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Signed in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war between the United States and Mexico and gave a large portion of Mexico’s northern territories to the United States. The language of the treaty was designed to deal fairly with the people who became residents of the United States by default. However, as Richard Griswold del Castillo points out, articles calling for equality and protection of civil and property rights were either ignored or interpreted to favor those involved in the westward expansion of the United States rather than the Mexicans and Indians living in the conquered territories.


Mexican Exodus

Mexican Exodus

Author: Julia Grace Darling Young

Publisher:

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0190205008

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The book investigates the formation of the Cristero diaspora, a network of Mexican emigrants, exiles, and refugees across the United States who supported a Mexican Catholic uprising during the late 1920s. These emigrants had a profound and enduring impact on Mexican American community formation, political affiliations, and religious devotion.


Gender, Globalization, and Democratization

Gender, Globalization, and Democratization

Author: Rita Mae Kelly

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9780742509788

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Women's voices and experiences from around the world are brought to bear upon issues of globalization and democratization in this volume of strikingly original and diverse essays. From the Comfort Women of Japan to the Mexican maquiladoras, from the debt burdened nations of Africa to the 'new settler societies' of Oceania, the impact of globalizing forces and uneven democratization yields gender dislocations everywhere. This volume charts these trends with original research, first-hand interviews and surveys, and fresh theoretical perspectives. Gender regime change may be built on the understandings begun here.


Latino Social Policy

Latino Social Policy

Author: Juana Mora

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-12-22

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1317719050

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Examine alternative strategies to resolving important Latino social issues! Latino Social Policy: A Participatory Research Model examines the failure of traditional research methods to address major social needs in Latino communities, promoting instead a participatory/action approach to research that is socially—and scientifically—meaningful. Experts from a variety of disciplines focus on nontraditional strategies that engage community residents in community-research projects, shortening the distance between the researcher and the “subject.” This unique book recounts lessons learned on conducting Participatory Action Research (PAR) in Latino communities using techniques based on anthropology, education, community health and evaluation, and urban planning. Latino Social Policy: A Participatory Research Model addresses non-traditional methods of reducing the tension between the reality of interaction with the subject community and the academic training structures used by researchers. The book promotes a new vision and practice of research design in which the “subject” is central to the process, advocating a participatory approach to produce qualitatively different research based on community identified problems and needs. Contributors examine the value of integrating local knowledge, language, and culture into the methodological design, the ethics of conducting research in Latino communities, and the internal conflicts Chicana/o researchers face within their profession and in the field. Topics addressed in Latino Social Policy: A Participatory Research Model include: community health and Central Americans in Los Angeles ethnography and substance abuse among transnational Mexican farmworkers identity and field research in Mexico the Latino Coalition for a New Los Angeles (LCNLA) researcher/community partnerships and much more! Latino Social Policy: A Participatory Research Model includes case studies, ethnographies, and vignettes that illustrate participatory approaches and outcomes in Latino research. The book is equally valuable as a textbook for academics and students working in the social sciences, public policy, and urban planning, and as a professional guide for community leaders and organizations interested in developing research partnerships.


Invisible Anthropologists

Invisible Anthropologists

Author: David Himmelgreen

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-08-03

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 1444332031

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Anthropology is generally thought of as the study of exotic peoples in far-away lands. However, anthropologists have a long history of less exotic, applied “get-your-hands-dirty work.” As a nation of immigrants, the United States has enjoyed a reputation as a model for democracy and a place where newcomers’ dreams can come true. As such, this Bulletin could only have been written in the United States, home to so many immigrants from so many lands, who adapt in different and unique ways to form what we consider the nation. Comparatively little has been written about anthropologists engaged with immigrant communities. In fact, it is somewhat shocking that anthropologists—and historians—seem to have forgotten to document this important contribution to the extent that we have documented our far-away travels and studies. This Bulletin is one such attempt. In it, we present a variety of perspectives, viewpoints, insights, and experiences of anthropologists who are actively engaged with immigrant communities across the United States, offering case studies from Florida, California, North Carolina, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Representing both university-based and NGO-based applied anthropologists, the authors discuss how deep, long-term engagement with immigrants has impacted our anthropological practice and how it in turn has shaped both theory and praxis. We share the personal and the professional, our challenges and our successes. The authors explore the nuances of our simultaneous, multiple roles vis-à-vis the immigrants themselves, the consequences of generational changes within our immigrant populations and how state policies, migration shifts and post-9/11 group responses have affected both our work and our multiple roles with communities. We present recommendations, lessons learned and future opportunities for U.S.-based anthropologists working with our unique brand of “exotic”—mainly Mexican and Latin American immigrants in 21st-century United States.