In general, migration may be regarded as a highly complex phenomenon where various multilevel factors are united in order to determine the individual’s final decision to migrate. Such macro-factors as demographic, socio-economic, political, and environmental situations have a major impact on migration (Castelli 2018). At the same time, they are the main reasons of forced internal or international migration that traditionally cannot be controlled by people. The meso-factors that play a highly significant role as well include land grabbing, communication technology, and diasporic links (Castelli 2018). As a matter of fact, social media considerably attract people from foreign countries by raising frequently exaggerated awareness concerning living conditions in developed countries (Castelli 2018). In addition, the existence of the diaspora abroad is frequently regarded as highly attractive. Finally, the migration’s micro-factors related to marital status, religion, education, and personal attitude contribute to individual choice and the final decision as well (Castelli 2018). There is a widely-known stereotype that poor, rural, and illiterate people constitute the majority of migrants. However, this cliche should be abandoned as the poorest citizens remain trapped and do not have opportunities to escape inappropriate conditions in their countries, such as poverty or wars.
In the present day, the immigration of Mexican citizens to the United States is a topic of considerably intense debates for various political and economic reasons. In general, the Mexican immigration’s history may be characterized as “the movement of unskilled, manual laborers pushed northward mostly by poverty and unemployment and pulled into American labor markets with higher wages” (Gutiérrez 2019, 1). In other words, the majority of the Mexicans were economic immigrants, males from rural communities, who crossed the border, hoping to improve their living conditions and support their families financially. At the same time, during civil strives like the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero Revolt, people fled to the United States in order to escape political and religious persecution (Gutiérrez 2019). In turn, a substantial number of citizens who felt the pressure of patriarchal, tradition-bound, conservative, and rural agrarian society, migrated for personal liberties and modern values of Western culture.
According to some scholars, the Mexicans’ mass labor migration is currently limited due to economic improvements in their country, an aging population and declining fertility rates, the economic downturn, and the impact of strict anti-immigrant policies of the United States (Slack, Martínez, Whiteford and Peiffer 2015). At the same time, modern immigration has historically unprecedented features as it considerably diverse (The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress 2015). Concerning Mexico, migration has diversified in this region as well as people move not only from historically sending states of the Mexican heartland, but from Mexico’s southern states, gulf coast, and other areas (The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress 2015). In general, migrants currently arrive in the United States not only from Puerto Rico, Cuba, or Mexico but from all countries of Latin America.
The crossing of a border that divides two countries may be extremely challenging for Mexican immigrants who make a decision to enter the United States illegally. They are frequently forced to move through a large desert that cannot be properly controlled by border patrols, and these journeys, either for seasonal work or permanent stay, may be life-threatening (Jackson 2015). In addition, as an immigration enforcement program of the United States, the Consequence Delivery System implemented in 2011 increases the penalties “associated with unauthorized migration in order to convince people not to return” (Slack, Martínez, Whiteford and Peiffer 2015, 109). Moreover, work in America offered for immigrants is frequently characterized by inappropriate or unsafe conditions and small wages. However, despite all risks, difficulties, and discrimination, Mexican citizens are still determined to immigrate, and this tendency has several specific reasons.
First of all, poverty and unemployment in Mexico remain a major problem that is currently rising exponentially. A considerable part of the country’s population are farmers who live in rural areas (Jackson 2015). However, poor quality land and extreme temperature have a highly negative impact on Mexican agriculture. A prevalent number of citizens have substantial financial difficulties, and almost 50% of the population lives under the poverty line (Jackson 2015). That is why people try to move to the United States for better prospects in order to maintain the reasonable standards of living and support their families.
At the same time, the quality of life in the two countries is considerably different. The infrastructure of Mexico may be regarded as undeveloped, and people frequently do not have access to safe drinking water (Jackson 2015). In turn, the United States offers relatively better services, living standards, and academic opportunities that may help migrants and their children to achieve professional and financial goals in the future. In addition, migrant communities that have already existed in California and Texas contribute to the Mexicans’ positive decision concerning immigration. Moreover, people frequently follow their relatives who have already live in the United States. Other reasons for the immigration of the Mexicans traditionally include high crime rates in their native country, climate conditions, and natural hazards.
Bibliography
Castelli, Francesco. 2018. “Drivers of Migration: Why Do People Move?” Journal of Travel Medicine 25 (1): 1-7.
Gutiérrez. Ramón A. 2019. “Mexican Immigration to the United States.” Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Web.
Jackson, Alex. 2015. “Mexico to USA Migration.”Geography AS Notes, Web.
Slack, Jeremy, Martínez, Daniel E., Whiteford, Scott, and Emily Peiffer. 2015. “In Harm’s Way: Family Separation, Immigration Enforcement Programs and Security on the US-Mexico Border.” Journal on Migration and Human Security 3 (2): 109-128.
The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. 2015. “How Mexican Immigration to the U.S. Has Evolved.”Time, Web.