Beyond Borders Sparknotes

One of the things that have always been perplexing about the History of the United States is how the Civil War could end Slavery, but immigration issues still exist. Beyond Borders: A History of Mexican Migration to the United States delivers an abundance of information that contributes to the evidence of the ongoing issue. The author emphasizes ratiocinations on why Mexicans aim to live in the United States, what they are trying to escape from in Mexico, the restraints they are facing in the United States, and the conditions they are facing while crossing the border to get into the United States. Individuals such as students, educators, and historians who are studying immigration can be aided by this book that includes numerous amounts of
analytical evidence.
Henderson presents to the reader that the issue of Mexican immigration to the United States began in 1848. Expansion of the border went through the South and West of the nation. Mexicans who were already in the areas of expansion were “migrating without leaving home” (Henderson 9). The South indubitably became a diversionary tactic when it became the New South and tobacco farming was the focal point in the nation. Immigrants like José Martínez y Saldivar, a wealthy man from Cuba, came to the United States and bought a plantation in Columbia, Georgia because it was a better opportunity than staying in Latin America.
The author provides the reader with information that tells why Immigrants are leaving Mexico and coming to America. In the nineteenth century, Mexico was a poor country with horrific violence, epidemic disease, starvation, and inflation. Consequently, it influenced Mexicans who were and were not in the United States that this was a place of more opportunities. The ideology that America was the land of the free with the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, free enterprise, free trade, and more were enticed by Americans, generating Mexicans to find every feasible way to get across the border. Escaping their lives living in poverty, Mexicans decided to utilize the opportunities in the United States to find labor and earn enough income to support themselves and, if applicable, their families. Typically, immigrants would work until they build enough money to take to their homeland where they do not get paid enough for their labor.
American employers offered Mexicans work for better wages than they can earn in Mexico. In reality, Mexicans were receiving a lower pay than what Americans would receive, resulting in more Mexicans laborers and a higher risk of unemployment for Americans. This caused controversy between Americans and Mexicans. Xenophobia stretched across the nation labeling immigrants as a threat. However, immigration continued to emerge and more laws began to develop.
The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota.
Mexicans were sat between getting by the border legally or getting by illegally. The ones who went by legally went through a process of humiliation involving baths and delousing; their heads were shaved, their clothing and baggage took from them and fumigated, and they were forced to march stark naked before medical inspectors. Those who crossed illegally swam across the Rio Grande to enter the United States, receiving the name as “wetback”. Tempestuous conversation is constructed by reason of all the information Henderson
furnished.
Henderson is attempting to give the perspectives of Mexican immigrants and Americans. He uses the information he has gathered to convey the reader that Americans only want immigrants around to benefit themselves. For example, when an employer hires an Immigrant for low wages, it leads to assumptions that American will lose their job and get replaced by someone that is not allowed in the country. Consequently, It brings friction between the two, resulting in Immigration issue.
Additionally, he explains how Mexicans suffered to stay in the United States or get to the United States. While directing deportation and immigration laws, Americans controlled immigration across the border. It is brought to attention that he concludes that “to have any chance of success, it would require Mexico to reform its tax system, upgrade its infrastructure, and improve its educational system.” His statement is logical because Mexican is immigrating to find a better living, not to stay in a place that the same or just as worse as their homeland. Furthermore, the conclusion that poverty is the main cause of Immigration convinces the reader. The funds that Mexico is missing is the only source of creating a better environment to live in.
Overall, this book has its merits and flaws.
Although it has plenty of information, the text is not clear with its style of writing. The author doesn't necessarily start off by explaining exactly why Mexicans are migrating to the United States. The reader has to make it further into the chapters to get an exact answer. On the other hand, Beyond Borders; A History of Mexican Migration to the United States is filled with information from multiple sources. This allows the book to have a stronger argument with credentials. The author created a better understanding of Mexican Immigration and its conflict with the United States. He answered all the questions; who, what, when, where, why, and how for both Mexicans and Americans. Both perspectives are clear and
present.
Furthermore, this book tells about the different laws that are created in the United States and how the border divides the two countries. This information is predominately the most important because it gives the reader insight of the way the border control is set up in the past compared to the modern day. Due to fact that the book is a genre of history, it is able to fit in with other history books specifically based on the United States and Latin America. It is also a secondary source that is highly recommended if a scholar or historian is studying Mexican immigration because he uses multiple sources to piece his book together and create an understanding of the topic.