The Journey, Arrival And Settlement: Case Study
The Journey, Arrival & Settlement The decision to leave Mexico is difficult, the journey treacherous. For most, though, it is a risk they are willing to take because America is more promising than the despair they face at home. Often times to obtain safe passage through the rough, uncertain, and dangerous terrain the migrant will hire a guide referred to as a “coyote (smuggler)” (Ortmeyer, Quinn, 2012) who, in reality, has no true regard for their safety. A coyote is essentially in the business of human trafficking. Clinging to the hope of America, the immigrant feels as though they have no other choice than to become indebted to this mercenary. A recent report revealed, “On average, one person dies every day trying to cross the 2,000 mile border” (Special Report, 2012, p. 1).
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During World War II, there were intense economic difficulties, which caused a change in viewpoint regarding Mexican workers.
On one hand, the war enhanced the U.S. economy, yet on the other yielded a decrease in American labors, men in particular due to the draft. In turn, there became a greater interest for farm workers. Accordingly, in 1942, the U.S. drew up an agreement with the Mexican government creating a temporary laborer program called the Emergency Farm Labor Agreement, also known as the Bracero Program. As a government-supported program, the Bracero Program, allowed Mexican laborers to enter the U.S. temporarily to provide aid to the American agricultural industry. The program ran a span of 22 years (Calisphere, 2016). Although their stay in America was temporary, the Bracero Program planted the seed of immigration in the hearts and minds of the workers and the longing to, someday, return to
America.
Most Mexicans migrating to the United States in the early twentieth century came from Central and Southern Mexico and made the trip by train to border towns such as Juárez and Tijuana, before crossing. However, not very many migrated directly to California. Most took up residence first in Texas and stayed there for quite a while before traveling west. Once in California, communal settlement areas included the Imperial Valley and the San Joaquin Valley. Both valleys were regions significant in agriculture and benefitted from major changes in watering systems and farming machinery (Parks, 2015). “The San Joaquin Valley is the state's top agricultural producing region, sometimes called "the nation's salad bowl" for the great array of fruits and vegetables grown in its fertile soil. The Valley is 250 miles long and bordered on the west by the coastal mountain ranges. Its eastern boundary joins the southern two-thirds of the Sierra bioregion, which features Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks” (Fact Sheet, 2015). In the late twentieth century, Mexican immigrants who settled in the U.S. once again played a crucial role in aiding the American economy when they filled the niche of the labor shortage due to the U.S. embargo on Arab oil (Parks, 2015).
During World War II, there were intense economic difficulties, which caused a change in viewpoint regarding Mexican workers.
On one hand, the war enhanced the U.S. economy, yet on the other yielded a decrease in American labors, men in particular due to the draft. In turn, there became a greater interest for farm workers. Accordingly, in 1942, the U.S. drew up an agreement with the Mexican government creating a temporary laborer program called the Emergency Farm Labor Agreement, also known as the Bracero Program. As a government-supported program, the Bracero Program, allowed Mexican laborers to enter the U.S. temporarily to provide aid to the American agricultural industry. The program ran a span of 22 years (Calisphere, 2016). Although their stay in America was temporary, the Bracero Program planted the seed of immigration in the hearts and minds of the workers and the longing to, someday, return to
America.
Most Mexicans migrating to the United States in the early twentieth century came from Central and Southern Mexico and made the trip by train to border towns such as Juárez and Tijuana, before crossing. However, not very many migrated directly to California. Most took up residence first in Texas and stayed there for quite a while before traveling west. Once in California, communal settlement areas included the Imperial Valley and the San Joaquin Valley. Both valleys were regions significant in agriculture and benefitted from major changes in watering systems and farming machinery (Parks, 2015). “The San Joaquin Valley is the state's top agricultural producing region, sometimes called "the nation's salad bowl" for the great array of fruits and vegetables grown in its fertile soil. The Valley is 250 miles long and bordered on the west by the coastal mountain ranges. Its eastern boundary joins the southern two-thirds of the Sierra bioregion, which features Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks” (Fact Sheet, 2015). In the late twentieth century, Mexican immigrants who settled in the U.S. once again played a crucial role in aiding the American economy when they filled the niche of the labor shortage due to the U.S. embargo on Arab oil (Parks, 2015).