Anna Aquinde
Intl 350
Prof. Jeanette Jouili
28 April 2014
The Damagingly Scorned
The topic of immigration is critically studied and observed by many. Such a simple term is
composed of a multitude of elements formulating it to be so complex. There are a plethora
of reasons people choose to migrate, although sometimes it is not an option but sought out
for a better way of life. Migration has a profound impact not only on the migrants, but also
the receiving country. Among the great waves of immigration, one community sweeping
into the United States is that of its immediate neighbor, Mexico. The two most undeniable
reasons for immigration into the United States is the acquisitive demand for cheap labor
and the population increase in Mexico.[1] The need to comprehend Mexico – U.S
immigration is more profound today than any other time in history, because the topic is so
problematic and complex for both countries. Mexican Immigration to the United States is
at an all time high in today’s society. Mexicans comprise the single largest national group
of authorized and unauthorized immigrants in the United States and are the largest group
of Latin American origin. Mexicans, like other migrant communities, are stereotyped,
profiled, misrepresented, and generalized, as a means of containing and controlling influx
of migrants into the United States. Furthermore, these misrepresentations are used to
implement contemporary policies. Through these types of stigmatizations, policies are
often negatively skewed, which provoke harsh assimilation for these migrants.
World War I and the Mexican Revolution created an impetus for Mexican immigration to
the states. World War I created a need for workers and since Mexican workers performed
well in job sectors of service and labor, they were textbook for the job. The Mexican
Revolution caused much turmoil in the lives of Mexicans. The government was unable to
maintain a prosperous environment to improve the lives of the citizens, causing them to
seek elsewhere for a better way of life. At the conclusion of the War, a quota was set to
control the flow of immigrants and the US Border Patrol was implemented to control the
stream of Mexicans into the States. However, this did not terminate all immigration
completely, bringing about both legal and illegal migration. With the emergence of World
War II, the need for workers increased. The two governments sought an agreement,
importing a multitude of farm laborers to the states. This movement, known as the Bracero
program, would stem a continued production of U.S. food supply during the years of the
war. With the conclusion of World War II, there were only 500,000 Mexican- born
residents of the United States. Subsequently in the late 1960’s the course of open legal
immigration policies and the end of the Bracero program brought about an increase of both
legal and illegal migration, altering the nature of Mexican immigration. According to Pew
Research Center, analyzing Census Bureau data, 33.7 million Mexicans live in the United
States as of 2012; 11.4 million of those are immigrants and 22.3 million born in the United
States.[2]
The representation of Mexican Immigrants in the United States historically brings about a
negative and underrepresented connotation. Many studies and research illustrate the
generalizations, stereotypes, and misrepresentations brought upon this group by the outside
world, mainly by the media and politics.
The contributions of the Mexican diaspora to the economy and popular culture are rarely
documented and because of this they are subject to racial, linguistic, and social prejudices.
A few generalizations that Mexicans are subject to include illegal, gang affiliation, yard
workers, English illiterate, and lazy. The one platform that monopolizes on such
stereotypes is the media.
Historically the media generalizes the diaspora as a whole rather than focusing on certain
individuals. For example, look at terms coined to refer to such migrants. In the 1920’s with
the conclusion of the War and the instatement of the US Border Control, the expression
illegal alien was devised. Mae Ngai claims “Immigration restriction produced the illegal
alien as a new legal and political subject, whose inclusion within the nation was
simultaneously a social reality and a legal impossibility- a subject barred from citizenship
and without rights.” [3] Over time many other terms have been coined to describe and refer
to these migrants. Some of these include wetbacks, border bandit, cholo, dirty Sanchez,
greaser, and fence-hopper. An online database exists that lists these racial slurs and their
meanings. These terms are geared towards the idea that every Mexican American is illegal,
a yardman, or uneducated.
Different networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and the History Channel all have
aired documentaries and broadcasts about a family hopping over the fence or swimming
through the river, someone reluctant or inept to adapt to the culture, or someone who is
stealing a job opportunity away from an American. Magazines and newspapers are too
accountable for such activity. For example, in December 1974, Legion magazine cover
story read “ Our Illegal Alien Problem”. Mexicans trampling down a sign reading “USA
BORDER” and another “KEEP OUT” illustrated this. [4] Another alarming cover was that
of TIME, June 2001. This one reads “ Welcome to Amexica, the Border is vanishing before
our eyes, creating a new world for all of us.”[5] Such media placed into the minds of the
audience this idea of a reconquest of the Southwest and how it has been in operation for
generations and spanned centuries. Although those are not the only magazines responsible
for such negative generalizations, such media causes abundant distress across a nation.
