Legal Migration from Mexico

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes the topic of legal migration. Specifically, it discusses the benefits of allowing legal migration from Mexico to the U.S. and the damaging effects of not allowing legal migration. In addition, it analyzes the problems and dangers that have come from the increased border patrols. Allowing more legal migration from Mexico into the United States is a controversial issue that has been addressed by many, but never acted upon. The writer points out that the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico into the U.S. takes its toll in many forms; allowing more legal immigrants to enter the U.S. would solve many problems, including death in the deserts, smugglers trafficking in human lives, and reuniting families separated by time and borders. It argues that legal immigration from Mexico must be addressed and increased for the benefit of so many Mexican citizens who want to better their lives.

From the Paper:

"The history of legal and illegal immigration into the country from Mexico has not always been fraught with problems. In the 1940s, the "bracero" program allowed Mexican farm workers to immigrate to the United States to work primarily in the farmlands of California and Texas. The program was temporary, and allowed workers to come into the country because of a labor shortage in the US caused by World War II. It continued rather sporadically until 1964, when the US ended the program, feeling it artificially lowered the wages for American farm workers. When the program ended, the Border Patrol, the enforcement division of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), (now called the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS), apprehended perhaps 42,000 illegal workers attempting to enter the country along the Mexican border. By 1974, that number had skyrocketed to at least 710,000 illegal immigrants apprehended attempting to enter the country, and in 1986, the peak year, 1.7 million people were apprehended. Today, at least 1,000,000 workers are apprehended each year (Borjas and Fisher 626). In 1986, President Reagan and the Congress enacted the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), a form of amnesty that allowed many illegal aliens already in the country to remain in the country legally. It also created many sanctions against employers who hire illegal aliens."

More papers on Legal Migration from Mexico:

• Case Study # 91350 : "Migration from Traditional to Internet Distribution"
• Essay # 2903 : "Illegal Migration from Morocco to Spain"
• Analytical Essay # 115251 : "U.S. - Mexico Borderland"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: