Introduction
Illegal immigration is regarded as the most controversial political issue in the current American society. Amidst recent globalization trends, many people have had no option but to leave their families and cross the border to U.S.A for greener pastures. In addition, some have crossed the border because of the desire to live the idealized American dream.
This enormity of the problem of illegal migrations has been an issue of concern to many countries including Mexico and the United States (Andreas 591-615). This paper explores illegal immigrants who cross the American- Mexican border and narrates their experiences. It also explores why they decide to cross the border.
Illegal Immigrations to the United States from a Historical Perspective
Historically, Mexicans have been thought to live in the United States long before the boundaries of the contemporary United States were created. They inhabited the south western side of the United States and build their houses there, long before this area was incorporated into the territory of the United States.
Later, dramatic changes were witnessed, especially during the Texas war of 1836. During this war and the subsequent Gadsden Purchase, the portion of land was increased in the favor of the United States. During subsequent decades, there were rising numbers of Mexicans in such areas where they worked in farms, rail-roads and mines (Menjivar par 1- 20; Smith par. 3-13).
These activities drew migrants (from Mexico) who developed their own neighborhoods as places of continuance with their traditional practices and in line with their tradition and culture (Menjivar par 1- 20; Smith par. 3-13). The Texas War of 1836, the Mexican American War, and the Gadsden Purchase added land to the United States from that which had previously belonged to Mexico.
Subsequent decades saw an increase of Mexicans in these areas as employment in the railroads, farms, mines and other areas drew immigrants from Mexico. These immigrants often created their own neighborhoods where they could continue their traditional practices and culture (Menjivar par 1- 20; Smith par. 3-13).
Later, during the Second World War, Mexican workers on seasonal farms were forced to enter the United States with the hope of being paid close to 15 times more than their initial salary (Menjivar par 1- 20; Smith par. 3-13). When the Bracero program ended in 1966, there was still a sustained increase of the flow of such workers into the United States.
This was as a result of the pool of the agricultural industry which continued to attract migrants into the American territory (Menjivar par 1- 20; Smith par. 3-13. As a result, the immense job opportunities in all-round employment in places such as slaughter houses, restaurants and poultry plants caused a continued desire among the immigrants to settle in the north. In the 1980s, the number of immigrants in the United States reached soaring high values as a result of the poor economy in Mexico (Menjivar par 1- 20; Smith par. 3-13).
During the 1980’s, the number of Mexican immigrants in the United States increased rapidly. As a result, the ever present shifts in employment trends caused the dispersal of illegal immigrants of Mexican origin to depict a sustainable increase. The Mexican immigrants historically settled in areas closest to Mexico among other areas.
Therefore, areas such as Arizona, New Mexico California and Texas were heavily populated. Large numbers of immigrants ended in cities because of the available employment opportunities. During the late twentieth century, there were shifts in destinations, with the common destination being the south and the Mid-West amongst many others.
Therefore, states such as North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin increasingly became the centre of Hispanic migrants while those of Mexican origin depicted a transition from a “regional minority to a national presence” (Smith par. 3-13).
Push and Pull Factors as a Cause of Illegal Immigrations of Mexicans into the United States
The illegal immigrations across the Mexican-American border are a result of the presence of push factors and pull factors. Examples and effects of these factors have been vividly explored in a vast portion of this paper. Push factors are those factors present in Mexico which will cause illegal immigrants to cross the border into the United States.
These factors may include lack of employment, insecurity posed by criminal gangs and drug traffickers, political instability and poor standards of living. The pull factors are those that exist in the country where the immigrants cross the border to (in this case the United States). Such factors are the exact opposite of the push factors (those that exist in Mexico) (Dvorak 30-90). Therefore, illegal immigrations across the Mexican border into the United States are largely attributed to push and pull factors.
These factors are explored either directly or indirectly in various sections of this paper. Therefore, Push factors are used to explain why illegal immigrants emigrate their home country, while pull factors explore why such immigrants immigrate illegally into the United States (Dodenhoff par. 3-11; Falicov 23-45).
The enormity of the problem of illegal Immigration of Mexicans into the United States
Research studies have indicated plummeted numbers of people trying to cross the American-Mexican border and an increased number of immigrants who have died during the daring trek through the border. There has been a continued effort to secure the border through use of the American Customs and Border Protection.
Though border patrol officials working for this unit have reported that border crossings have depicted a dramatic reduction in the last five years, the chilling tales and encounters of illegal Mexican immigrants are contrary (Dent 23-55; Dvorak 30). The fact that researchers have indicated difficulty in tallying the precise numbers of illegal immigrants crossing the American Mexican border only means that the problems they face while trying to cross the border may be deadly and not accounted for.
This may go undetected by human rights agencies through cover up strategies by the border control departments and government agencies. This is further worsened by the rising reports of death on the border which is depicted in the yearly reports of the Customs Border Protection.
This implies that the attempt of crossing the border is a grave danger to those immigrants who try such approaches as the border controls have even been militarized by the United States (Andreas 591-615; Dent 23-55; Dodenhoff par. 3-11; Dvorak 30-90; Falicov 23-45).
In addition, the findings of the fiscal year 2011 which pointed out that 327,522 immigrants had attempted to cross the border illegally. This finding raised eyebrows, especially when compared to the fiscal year 2007 where 858,638 illegal immigration attempts had been reported (Andreas 591-615; Falicov 23-45).
This reduction of nearly 62% was not short of controversy. When the figures were closely analyzed, some people attributed the reduction to increased border crossing fatalities and increased apprehension by military immigration officials while trying to cross the border. Women have notably had devastating encounters in the hands of the military including allegations of rape, torture and being maimed.
Some have even been reported to have mental ailments as their husbands were killed right before their eyes (Finlay 1720-1737, Garcia 3547; Preston par. 2-12; Smith par. 3-13).
In the fiscal year 2011 in the American yearly reports, it was pointed out that border patrols had found 368 illegal immigrants dead. Though this number is said to have reduced from 398 illegal immigrants recorded in the fiscal year 2007, it is a clear indication of the less common but more dangerous illegal border crossings. This is further worsened by the number of deaths which had been reported earlier as a result of live interceptions (Finlay 1720-1737, Garcia 3547; Menjivar par 1- 20).
In the American fiscal year of 2011, it was reported that the number of illegal immigrant deaths as a result of live interceptions while crossing the border had risen from 0.05% in the fiscal year 2005 to 0.11% in the fiscal year 2011. These deaths indicate the crude and deadly approaches used by the border patrol officials to intercept illegal immigrants.
Though the recorded data may seem minimal and insignificant, people have raised concern that other case fatalities of illegal immigrant deaths on the American-Mexican border go unreported due to the fear of tainting the image of the United States which has been depicted as the worlds one and only super power, a protector and defender of human rights.
Though the number of illegal immigrants crossing the American-Mexican border has been thought to decrease in the recent past, it can only give the perception that illegal border crossings are increasingly becoming dangerous (Finlay 1720-1737, Garcia 3547; Menjivar par 1- 20; Preston par. 2-12; Smith par. 3-13).
A tale of the encounters of children, Young adults and parents
Research has cited an increasing trend where American courts (e.g. in the South Texas border town and across the United states) have confronted an unexpected surge in the number of children who were caught as they attempted illegal border crossing to be with their parents in the United States. Such actions and approaches have been pursued regardless of the age of the child. It has been reported that even children of school going age have not been spared (Garcia 3547; Preston par. 2-12).
In an attempt to be with their parents in the United States, young people (and even children) have attempted hard approaches e.g. “accessing the border by bike, on top of freight trains and even on the roofs or backs of buses” (Finlay 1720-1737).
It has been reported that some of these children have even attempted to cross the Rio Grande through inner tubes while some have been reported to have “hiked for days through adverse environments such as extremes of heat, even including chills of the deserts in Arizona” (Preston par. 2-12).
The American immigration courts have in the past registered increasing numbers of cases which entail illegal border crossings especially among the youth. In this regard, the effects of the courts and criminal justice institutions on such youths are troubling. Unlike the other courts like the family or the criminal courts where the accused is entitled to a government paid lawyer, such rights and privileges are rarely present in the American immigration courts.
In addition, such rights and privileges are presented to the accused who can afford to pay for a lawyer. Usually, the people accused of trying to cross the border illegally rarely have the financial prowess to acquire a lawyer and their hopes of getting justice are diminished (Finlay 1720-1737, Preston par. 2-12; Smith par. 3-13).
There is also the rising concern by human rights groups over the failure of the American immigration laws to cater adequately for the protection of minors who are caught crossing the border illegally. Therefore, children who are minors are rarely protected by immigration law. The recent findings in immigration courts are appalling in terms of how they depict the enormity of the challenges that illgal immigrants and their children face when trying to live the idealized American dream.
For instance, in 2009 alone, deportation proceedings were initiated for more than 11,000 minors. This was almost double the number of those deportation proceedings which were initiated in the year 2008 (Garcia 3547; Menjivar par 1- 20).
In attempts to evade the risks of deportation, the young illegal migrants present horrific tales to justify their presence in the United States. Some even attribute their reasons of illegal border crossing as attempts of fleeing the criminal violence which has been sharply escalating in Mexico. In this regard, some have found themselves in detention facilities which have been scrambled by the federal agencies in an attempt to muster detention facilities that are adequate to cater for the ever increasing numbers of illegal immigrants.
For the illegal immigrants who may be lucky to be attached to legal groups, they will be presented with the opportunity of hiring a private lawyer to defend them. However, this is not usually the case as many of these illegal immigrants are not connected to any legal group (Finlay 1720-1737, Garcia 3547; Menjivar par 1- 20; Preston par. 2-12; Smith par. 3-13).
According to an interview by the Women Refugee Commission (a refugee advocacy group in New York), 150 illegal and young Mexican immigrants were interviewed and the findings which were appalling. According to the findings of the commission, most children and young illegal immigrants attempted illegal border crossing in an attempt to escape the rising incidences of drug trafficking and criminal gangs who engage in aggressive and forceful recruitment of young adults and children.
Therefore, such young adults and children (of Mexican origin) depict willingness to risk the uncertainty and the dangers of the across-the-border-trip northwards rather than facing the criminal gangs and illegal traffickers at home (Finlay 1720-1737, Garcia 3547; Menjivar par 1- 20; Preston par. 2-12; Smith par. 3-13).
For the case of Mexican parents living illegally in the United States, they are sometimes forced to initiate (illegally) the journey of their children into the United States so that they can live the idealized American dream with them. In this regard, such parents live in constant fear of the lives of those children they left in their home country (Finlay 1720-1737; Smith par. 3-13).
Though such parents may be willing to go back for their children, the tighter border enforcement approaches (for example the use of the American Military for border control activities) which have been pursued recently have acted as an impediment. The process of smuggling their children into the United States and the consequences involved have instilled fear in parents regarding the likelihood that they will not be successful in going back to the United States (Menjivar par 1- 20; Smith par. 3-13).
As a result, such Mexican parents are even willing to part with 5000$ per child and give to smugglers. Usually, the smugglers take advantage of them and may even disappear with their money (Menjivar par 1- 20). In other cases, the smugglers may be intercepted at the border points and arrested together with the child.
Some parents have even encountered double pain where and end up being mentally disturbed as they are usually forced to entrust their child to total strangers (Menjivar par 1- 20; Preston par. 2-12). Such actions which have been undertaken by parents (illegal immigrants of Mexican origin) are not without consequences. There have been reports where young children have been abused and even end dying in the course of being smuggled across the Mexican border into the United States (Smith par. 3-13).
Specific and recent examples of the problems faced by illegal Mexican Immigrants
In an article published in the Christian Post Contributor on 20th August 2012 by Vicente Menjivar, it was reported that an accident between a pickup and a truck occurred in the region South Texas, on a rural highway enjoining the Mexican border on the far end of the east. This accident left 15 immigrants dead and depicted the enormity of the problems of illegal immigrants that are still facing the United States today.
In addition, the accident also revealed the deadly approaches and means that Mexican illegal immigrants employ in the pursuit of the most idealized and better life in the United States. According to traffic officials at the scene of the accident, the accident was described as the deadliest immigrant accidents in the history of Mexico and the United States.
According to the American Police report, the route has been a long-term and apparent highway which was commonly used by smugglers (otherwise known as coyotes) to pass the illegal Mexican Immigrants through the Mexican American border into the United States (Menjivar par 1- 20; Preston par. 2-12).
According to reports by the highway patrol police, more than 23 people (most of them illegal immigrants of Mexican origin) had been crammed inside the bed and cab of the vehicle in question. Though the cause of the accident was not clear, preliminary investigations indicated a tyre burst or other mechanical failures notwithstanding.
The route was common for coyotes who were usually paid several dollars by illegal immigrants (mostly of Mexican origin) to smuggle them, their children, their relatives or their friends into the United States of America. As such, they had to bribe the coyotes, having the hope of an enhanced economic reality so that they could help those they left in their home countries including their families (Menjivar par 1- 20; Preston par. 2-12).
Another accident which took place in the County of Goliad had the greatest number of immigrants of Mexican origin killed including Honduras and those of Guatemalan origin (Zorak 30-50).
According to the article, this accident took place a few kilometers from where the deadliest accident in the history of human smuggling occurred. In the deadliest accident to be ever witnessed (May 2003), the death toll included 19 immigrants, including a young child aged five years who suffocated to death as a result of being heaped in a trailer with 51 other people.
This accident and the deaths reported were due to suffocation as the immigrants had been locked and left inside the vehicle for many hours. The lack of ventilation present under such an environment caused suffocation and ultimate death of many illegal immigrants, those of Mexican origin who were the greatest in number (Menjivar par 1- 20; Preston par. 2-12).
Conclusion
Like many other illegal immigrant who had died in such accidents in the past, crossing the border into the United States has been attributed to be more and more like a game of life and death that can turn tragic if repeated over and over again. The Customs Border Protection has pointed out the dangerous terrain in the border to discourage attempted crossers.
In addition, sections of human rights watch groups have accused border patrol officials of failing to put in enough effort to prevent deaths and injuries though the custom border safety initiative (Andreas 591-615). As such, illegal immigrations continue to affect the United States, even in the contemporary setting (Preston par. 2-12; Zorak 30-50).
Works Cited
Andreas, Peter. “The Escalation of U.S. Immigration Control in the Post-NAFTA Era.” Political Science Quarterly. 113.4 (1998): 591-615. Print.
Dent, David. The Encyclopedia of Modern Mexico, Lanham: Scarecrow Books, 2002. Print.
Dodenhoff, David. n.d. The Economic Impact of Immigration on Green Bay. n.d. Web.
Dvorak, William. Immigration in the United States, New York: Wilson Co., 2009. Print.
Falicov, Celia-Jaes. Ambiguous Loss: Risk and Resilience in Latino Immigrant Families, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. Print.
Finlay, Krystina. “Improving Intergroup Relations: The Effects of Empathy on Racial Attitudes.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 30.8 (2000): 1720-1737. Print.
Garcia, Alma. The Mexican Americans, Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002. Print.
Menjivar, Vicente. n.d. Illegal Immigration: Crossing the Border a Deadly Game of Life and Death. n.d. Web.
Preston, Julia. Young and Alone Facing Deportation. 2007. Web.
Smith, William. Uneasy Neighbors: A Brief History of Mexican U.S. Immigration. 2007. Web.
Zorak, Paul. Latino Immigration in the United States, New York: Wilson Co., 2009. Print.