Hispanic Americans have a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. Of the total Hispanic group, 60 percent reported as Mexican, 44 percent reported as Cuban, and nine percent reported as Puerto Rican.
Mexican immigrants form the largest Hispanic subgroup and also the oldest. Mexican migration to the United States started in the early 1900s in response to the need for cheap agricultural labor. The length of Mexico’s shared border with the United States has made immigration easier than for many other immigrant groups.
Cuban Americans are the second-largest Hispanic subgroup, and their history is different from that of Mexican Americans. The main wave of Cuban immigration to the United States started after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 …show more content…
Western growers needed a steady supply of labor, and the 1940s and 1950s saw the official federal “Bracero” Program that offered protection to Mexican guest workers. A few years later in 1954 the enactment of “Operation Wetback,” took place which deported thousands of illegal Mexican workers. From these examples, we can see that the U.S. treatment of immigrants from Mexico has been ambivalent at best.
By contrast, Cuban Americans are often seen as a model minority group within the larger Hispanic group. Many Cubans had higher socioeconomic status when they arrived to this country, and their anti-Communist agenda made them welcome refugees to this country. In South Florida, Cuban immigrants are active in local politics and professional …show more content…
Due to a complex set of factors, including the hardships of immigration, low levels of human capital, racial discrimination, and settlement patterns, Hispanic poverty rates remain high. In 2002, about 22 percent of Hispanics were poor, a percentage almost similar to that for blacks which is 24 percent; and almost three times that for non-Hispanic whites which is 8 percent (Proktor and Dallaker, 2003). Among a few of the factors, behaviors and conditions that are associated with poverty, we can mention especially low skill levels, job instability, and inadequate earnings for males. These factors also play a central role in recent explanations of the retreat from marriage, non-marital childbearing, and female family headship (Oppenheimer, 2000; Sweeney, 2002; Wilson, 1987). The slow rates of economic and communal assimilation set Mexicans apart from other immigrants, and may
Mexican immigrants form the largest Hispanic subgroup and also the oldest. Mexican migration to the United States started in the early 1900s in response to the need for cheap agricultural labor. The length of Mexico’s shared border with the United States has made immigration easier than for many other immigrant groups.
Cuban Americans are the second-largest Hispanic subgroup, and their history is different from that of Mexican Americans. The main wave of Cuban immigration to the United States started after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 …show more content…
Western growers needed a steady supply of labor, and the 1940s and 1950s saw the official federal “Bracero” Program that offered protection to Mexican guest workers. A few years later in 1954 the enactment of “Operation Wetback,” took place which deported thousands of illegal Mexican workers. From these examples, we can see that the U.S. treatment of immigrants from Mexico has been ambivalent at best.
By contrast, Cuban Americans are often seen as a model minority group within the larger Hispanic group. Many Cubans had higher socioeconomic status when they arrived to this country, and their anti-Communist agenda made them welcome refugees to this country. In South Florida, Cuban immigrants are active in local politics and professional …show more content…
Due to a complex set of factors, including the hardships of immigration, low levels of human capital, racial discrimination, and settlement patterns, Hispanic poverty rates remain high. In 2002, about 22 percent of Hispanics were poor, a percentage almost similar to that for blacks which is 24 percent; and almost three times that for non-Hispanic whites which is 8 percent (Proktor and Dallaker, 2003). Among a few of the factors, behaviors and conditions that are associated with poverty, we can mention especially low skill levels, job instability, and inadequate earnings for males. These factors also play a central role in recent explanations of the retreat from marriage, non-marital childbearing, and female family headship (Oppenheimer, 2000; Sweeney, 2002; Wilson, 1987). The slow rates of economic and communal assimilation set Mexicans apart from other immigrants, and may