Five Major Eras

Alan Townes
Nov. 3, 2014
SOC 370
Third Mid-Term
2. Chapter 3: Briefly summarize the major eras of Mexico->U.S. migration. Why does
Massey argue that these trends contradict the neoclassical economic view of migratory decision making? Do you agree?
There are five major eras when it comes to Mexicans migrating to the U.S.: The Era of
Enganche, The Era of Deportations, The Bracero Era, The Era of Undocumented Migration, and
The Great Divide. These eras were measured and studied over a 100 year span.
The Era of Enganche happened from 1900 to 1929. The development of railroads helped expand the U.S. in early history and also helped to expand northern Mexico development.
It also played a major part in transporting Mexicans into the U.S. This was
So the U.S. looked to Mexicans for laborers. The U.S. made policies that became known as el enganche and the people who employed or recruited the workers were known as enganchadores, thus the name of the era. But on arrival, the workers realized that the pay and the work wasn’t what they expected.
The early Mexican immigrants did not have the intensions to stay a long time in the U.S., just long enough to earn enough to help their families back home economically. Although most of the immigrants from Mexico were legal, the U.S. established the Border Patrol in 1924 and many began to be apprehended. The next era was The Era of Deportations from 1929 to 1941. During

the Great Depression the attitudes towards Mexican immigrants hardened and became hostile.
They were looked at as “taking jobs away from Americans.” The U.S. government decided to do a major sweep of Mexican immigrants and reduced the number by 41%. Thousands of Mexicans decided to just return home because of the hostility from the Americans. This was a successful strategy by the U.S. government. The Bracero Era (1942 to 1964) was when the
Chapter 4: Briefly summarize the seven major steps of the migration cycle and their
‘parameters’? Why does Massey argue that together these processes constituted a stable, mutually beneficial migration system for the U.S. and Mexico? Do you agree? Why or why not? There are seven steps based on data from the MMP (Mexican Migration Project). The first step is leaving. This is the starting point in the process, the decision on when to leave. This part of the study focused on individuals starting at age 15 during this period. In 1965 the annual probability on men aging from 15 and up on their first trip was .007 & grew to .021 by 1975.over time the undocumented men started making more trips and staying longer, eventually taking their families with them, which was the cause of increased female undocumented migrants. The next step for them actually is crossing. Crossing the border was difficult for the ones crossing and got even more difficult when the U.S. hired more Border Patrol officers. They hired more because apprehensions started to increase and continued to afterwards. The probability of being apprehended also stayed between 35 and 45 percent. Another way for migrants to cross was