Mexican Immigration

Improved Essays
In recent years, immigration has continued to be the subject of heated national debate. More than one million immigrants arrive each year, bearing a very significant impact on American life. The latest data collected by the Census Bureau show that the last decade was the highest in terms of immigrant arrivals in American history. For both countries of origin and countries of destination, immigration fosters cultural exchange and is directly related to globalization. Several advantages of migration include new opportunities that ease the effect of unemployment in the country of origin, transfer of technology, and increased trade. These changes stemming from immigration create social transformation, which is defined as a fundamental shift in …show more content…
The “push factor” of Mexican immigrants who come to the United States is to escape problems in Mexico, which include a stagnant economy, high crime levels, corrupt government and widespread drug use.The “pull factors” for Mexican immigrants, especially families are safety, job opportunities, and a higher quality of education for their children. Many of these immigrants enter the America illegally, which often requires them to cross a large desert that separates Mexico and America. In recent years, illegal immigrants have become one of America’s most vulnerable and targeted groups. Immigration policy in the U.S. has become more criminalized for undocumented immigrants. Immigration violations used to fall under civil law, but now they fall under criminal law. This has caused many problems for working undocumented immigrants. An economic demand for low-wage labor and the immigrants’ lack of strong English-speaking skills leads many immigrants to take dirty, dangerous, and low-paying work. For employment purposes, Mexican immigrants have usually borrowed social security numbers, however, after the tragedy of 9-11, the government has deemed this …show more content…
and has become a prevalent issue of debate. Because there is such a large number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., American politicians have struggled with creating effective policies to aid the current situation of immigration. The primary issue of debate is whether or not undocumented immigrants should be entitled to many of the same rights as native-born citizens. While many people in the U.S. welcome undocumented immigrants from a social justice perspective, many people in the U.S. believe that undocumented immigrants should be deported and subject to prosecution. The large amount of social transformation caused by immigration has heightened this debate. One major social transformation from immigration is the border towns, which have become a cultural blend of Mexico and the U.S. When the government began to crack down on immigration, they enforced an increased amount of law enforcement and criminal prosecutions, which in turn, costs border counties millions of dollars each year. Deportation of immigrants is also a difficult process that requires significant resources to monitor immigrants, detain them, and coordinate with local agencies, such as hospitals or welfare programs. In many cases, the U.S.’ deportation services send immigrants to foreign countries other than their country of origin, where they do not know the regions or cultures. All of these measures taken against undocumented

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