Immigration and Migration and the Making of a Modern American City

Immigration/Migration History

We see in Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture, and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, by George J. Sánchez that there was a massive move of individuals and families crossing into the United States, that Mexico lost ten percent of their total population during the waves of immigration that took place from 1910, to the present date. It also tells us that the United States put in place Americanization programs to change ways of the Mexican eating style. The American government wanted Mexicans to give up frequent consumption of rice and beans and replace tortillas with bread. There were many changes that they try to make on these immigrants. Many of these changes were part of their customs but by the 1930s this had come to an end. With this movement we saw that fried foods, beans, rice, and tortillas were typical foods that were introduced to America by the Mexicans immigrating into the U.S. ¹³ Some of the Mexicans were already living in parts of the United States that were yet to become states.

During the 1920's there was a growth of movement of Mexican immigrants to the United States. Many of the immigrants were crossing the border to come to an area with a better economic opportunity; during those years which the males did much of the migration. "First, young single men came who hoped to relieve their family's dire economic situation in Mexico. Married men formed a second group of migrants who desperately needed to help their families by working in the United States and sending money home to their wives and children. Finally, some males arrived in the United States in family groups, either as children or as heads of households who brought their entire families with them." ¹⁴For Mexican men, it was a great responsibility to provide money to the family and be the strong pillar to make the move to this country. Once in the U.S., manyhoped they could provide their families with a better living and someday go back or try to make enough money to bring their families across the border. Many of these immigrants went to Texas, Arizona and California. We saw the growth of Mexicans in these states because of the job opportunities and liberties of being able to go back home because they worked in seasonal labor and at times would come if they needed extra income. ¹⁵ It was significant to see how the Mexican immigration had this flexibility but also how they eventually had to leave things behind and begin a new life in the United States.

Mexican immigrants also moved to the north because they would have higher income. Having public transportation like the railroads or streetcars made it easier for these immigrants to move around. When the workers got to the north they experienced a higher cost of living but were not earning enough money. Therefore, they began rethinking the choices they had made and decided to move out there. ¹⁶ The number of immigrants that moved that way, were much fewer compared to all the Mexicans that were settling in the southern part of the country. The ones that were making a move would try to recreate the motherland atmosphere.

Mexican immigrants coming over had easier access and fewer restrictions to coming to this country and working compared to other immigrant groups for example the Asian immigrants. The United States Congress passed an immigration act where Europeans could not enter through Mexico unless taking test similar to ones that were administered at Ellis Island. ¹⁷ Mexican immigrants were exempted from this process until 1921. In 1942, the Bracero Program was introduced and used as the first form of regulating the Mexican migration. This program allowed Mexicans to come to the United States to work for a certain amount time before they were sent back to their country. The Program was most beneficial for the United State during World War II when there was a need for workers because of the lack of men that had gone off to war. It specifically helped the agriculture industries with seasonal workers that worked in the southern west states and were provide both housing and transportation. In the 1950's we began to see a large wave of undocumented immigrants coming into the U.S. because of the border patrol to control the people coming into the country. This phenomenon began close to the ending of the Bracero's program, which came to an official end in 1964. The number of Mexican immigrants has drastically increased through the years that by 2004 there were eleven million Mexican immigrants in the United States. ¹⁸ Especially in recent years the Mexican population has increased even more, according to the 2010 census it has been recorded that 307.8 million people (16.7%)who live in the United States and are classified as Hispanic which include all Latino sub groups. ¹⁹

With the waves of Mexican immigrants there have been millions of people that have learned and adapted to some of the American styles and patterns. According to Lacy and Odem, "The adoption of U.S. cultural forms and practices, even if blended with Mexican cultural forms and practice, indicate that Mexican immigrants are being incorporated into U.S. society", and being mainstreamed into the new things they are being exposed to. ²⁰ Mexicans were able to learn more about the ways of this country and they were able to introduce and practice their own typical celebrations and cook their homeland foods.

Just like there were Mexican immigrants coming to the United States there were also other Latino groups leaving their motherland and looking for better opportunities. Some of those countries were El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Just like we had seen in the Mexican migration, more Salvadorian and Guatemalan men were coming to the Untied States and we also saw similar patterns with these immigrants going to locations that had other Latinos already established there. They too were limited to the types of jobs they could obtain. Since many of them had limited language and work skills they had limited job opportunities and many times ended up being exploited by their employers. ²¹ They had to be satisfied with what they could obtain for a job since they came to this country open minded to whatever opportunity they would encounter.

The Salvadorian migration also occurred in several different waves that were provoked due to certain events that occurred in El Salvador.The journey from El Salvador to the United States is a long and dangerous journey that could take several months. Therefore, in order to make this journey travellers need a smuggler or a "coyote" in order to show them the way and make sure they can travel safely. The path from El Salvador to the United States travels from the starting point El Salvador then to Guatemala through Mexico and finally crossing the Grande River. They then are supposed to go through immigration however, there are some that do not and enter the country illegally. Although, another way that people are able to come to this country is by applying for a visa in order to come to the United States. Whichever way people decide to come to the Untied States; before making this journey people really thinks about whether they are sure about the risk they are about to take by completing this journey or having their families complete the journey. However, there are times when people felt that they needed to escape from their native land in order to find a better life than the one they already had.

The first wave of migration occurred in late 1930's and during World War II to meet the United States wartime labor shortage. During this time there was the commercialization of coffee in both Central America and the United States.It was also the beginning of a time when work opportunities became more prominent. It was also during this first wave of immigration when the upper-middle-class or upper class business people were the majority of the population of people that were traveling to the United States.The second wave transpired from the 1940's to the 1950's. During this time period the number of Salvadorians, were middle class citizens from El Salvador, out-numbered the Mexicans in San Francisco, California.It was also during 1940 that women began migrating to the United States as well. They were considered pioneers because it was believed that women were supposed to let their husbands or other male family members go to the states and earn money to send it back to them. However, instead women began travelling to work in Washington D.C. and were the ones earning money to send to their families. ²²

The third wave of the Salvadorian migration began in the early 1970's. During this time period the country began to experience a political unrest that escalated into the outbreak of Civil War in 1980. The population that was leaving the country also changed from the upper-class level to the working, lower middle, and middle classes that left the country. As the situation in El Salvador worsened people continued to flee the country and migrate to the United States. In 1986, the United States government allowed immigrants to apply for amnesty under the Immigration Reform Control Act (IRCA) as a way to help the refugees. ²³The end of the Civil War in 1992, brought another wave of migration. Due to the number of refugees that were continuing to come from El Salvador; the U.S. Congress granted temporary status program to all Salvadorians. This program was extended several times to help the refugees escaping the war but came to an end in 1994 just two years after the end of the civil war. The war's aftermath left behind a broken country that could not provide it citizen with the most important thing, safety. El Salvador was left in ruins and the waves of violence that were an outcome of the war continued to affect the country in negative ways by the creation of gangs. The country was also unable to help give their citizens a form of income due to the high unemployment rate and also the underemployment. The fifth wave occurred in 2000 and continues to this day. It was onset by the devastating earthquake that took place in 2001. This Earthquake caused the American government to re-establish the temporary status program to help the victims of the earthquake that were migrating to the United States. This program was again extended until it came to an end in 2007. ²⁴

The journey that immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador have to endure is full of obstacles andhurdles that they must overcome in order to begin a new life. People leave their families and homes behind in order to travel to a new country in hopes for new opportunities that will be able to give them a better life. Both the Mexican and Salvadorian migration occurred in waves that were onset due to certain events that were going on in the country that aligned with the immigration policies that the United States was creating at the time. However, the main difference between the Salvadorian and Mexican migration was the type of people that were emigrating. Throughout the waves of the Mexican migration there was a consistence of different socioeconomic groups that were emigrating through both illegal and legal means. Whereas, the Salvadorian migration began with only people from high socioeconomic groups were immigrating to the United States using legal methods. However, as the migration waves continued the lower socioeconomic groups began coming to the United States using both legal and illegal means instead of the upper socioeconomic groups. In a way the voyage that the Mexican and Salvadorian took was similar but at the same time different.