Medina 1
Cristian Medina
EWS 402
Prof. Aguilar- Hernandez
1/18/16
Suarez-Orozco v. Handagneu-Soleto
Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. In
American history, immigration has been a significant part of the growth and prosperity of
the country. In the articles, “Rethinking Immigration,” by Suarez-Orozco and “The
History of Mexican Undocumented Settlement in the United States,” by Pierrette
Hondagneu-Sotelo, the concept of immigration is the main point of issue. Both of these
articles share very distinct similarities, but yet differ in some aspects. In this paper I will
argue that the Suarez-Orozco and Hondagneu-Sotelo articles differentiate from each
other when it comes to the way they use the concept of immigration in their articles, but
correlate in their main theme, which is immigration and in some aspects of the treatment
of immigrants, specifically on the constant trends in the view of immigrants with the
economy.
The main things that differentiates the Suarez-Orozco article from the
Hondagneu-Sotelo is in regards to the way the concept of immigration is being used. In
the Suarez-Orozco article, it is conveying the stereotypical myths of immigrants and
immigration to the actual facts of immigration, using statistical fact to prove the points
made in the article. Even though Suarez-Orozco does refer to historical events his main
concept is to inform us about the stereotypical view of immigration. This evident when
Medina 2
discussing a Princeton research study on the view of the legality of immigrants in the
United States. (pg.47, par.2) The Princeton study calculated that nearly 70% of
American individuals thought that most immigrants in the United States were here
illegally and in fact there are 2.5 to 5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., this
is only 10-15% of all the total foreign population in America. This example from the
article clearly portrays Suarez-Orozco’s usage of immigration. In contrast, in the
Hondagneu-Sotelo article the concept of immigration is focused more on a historical
aspect of immigration, specifically Mexican Immigration in America. An example that
portrays his concept is when he is discussing the origins of Mexican Immigration into
the United States, (Sotelo, pg. 116 par.2) “Mexicans began migrating to work in the
U.S. agriculture, mining, and railroading during the late nineteenth century, when post-
