Mexican Immigration to the U.S.: Identity, Policy, and Assimilation

Introduction: Immigration and the American Identity

An understandably contentious issue, immigration cuts to the core of what it means to be American. Recent immigrants find themselves especially vulnerable to being caught in the crossfire of heated debates over American immigration policy. The migration of Mexican nationals to the United States is hardly a new phenomenon; in fact, the tide of immigration flow from Mexico ebbed in the 1970s. As Massey (1986) points out, it is a gross generalization to assume that economic factors alone drive immigration. Certainly, a large number of immigrants from Mexico to the United States are both pushed and pulled by financial need. Yet firmly established structures and institutions support new immigrants, and immigration is frequently a family phenomenon—particularly evident in the Mexican immigrant experience (Massey, 1986). Prevailing anti-immigration discourse in the United States obfuscates the tremendous diversity within the American immigrant experience, and even among specific immigrant groups like those who hail from Mexico.

Furthermore, anti-immigrant discourse echoes the nativist sentiments that have steeped their way through some segments of American society since the 19th century. The most extreme form of nativism is intransigent nativism—the extreme belief in stopping all new immigration. The irony inherent in any form of nativist ethos highlights the inconsistencies in nativist arguments characterized by reactive ethnicity, a prime example of which is the "Hispanic threat" or "Hispanic challenge," as Huntington (2009) calls it. Such arguments carefully skirt around apparent truths about American history, including the fact that the American-Mexican border was at one time far more fluid and permeable than it is today, and that much of the American Southwest had been under Mexican auspices until the Mexican-American War. Todos somos Americanos.

To elucidate the core principles, theories, and concepts addressed in the sociology of immigration in America, an interview was conducted with a first-generation immigrant from Mexico. The interview subject will be referred to as Juan for anonymity. Juan was born in Guadalajara and later moved to Mexico City with his family. Unlike many of the Mexican immigrants discussed in the sociological literature, Juan and his family came from a wealthy background and retain strong business and social ties to Mexico City. Juan's experiences nevertheless parallel those of his compatriots in important ways, particularly in that he has encountered both subtle and overt forms of discrimination. Juan and several of his relatives of the same generation could easily be referred to as immigrant entrepreneurs or professional immigrants, as opposed to those with refugee status or who are labor immigrants.

Social Organization, Kinship, and U.S. Immigration Policy

Juan's story reflects the salience of social organization as a key factor in the immigration experience. As Massey (1986) points out, kinship and community bonds can be either formal or informal but always have a strong bearing on the individual and collective immigrant experience. Juan has heard about landmark policies and programs like the Bracero Program of the early 20th century, which "came to be seen as a discriminatory and exploitative labor system, on a par with black sharecropping in the Jim Crow South" (Massey, 1986, p. 2). Another major piece of legislation that shaped immigration policy in the United States was the Hart-Cellar Act, also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965—"a new system that allocated residence visas uniformly on the basis of labor market needs and family reunification criteria" (p. 2).

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 took into account the fact that social organization and kinship ties are a major and often deciding factor for many immigrants. Moreover, emphasizing labor market needs creates pathways for legal entry. The Act also emerged from the civil rights era reform, making ethnicity or nationality less important as criteria for immigration quotas than humanitarian or economic forces. Then in 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act created new opportunities for establishing legal status in the United States. At this point in immigration policy history, the term "illegal alien" came into common use, transforming public perceptions and attitudes towards newcomers.

The Construction of Illegality and the DACA Generation

Juan is too young to remember how past immigration policies and laws in the United States might have impacted his community. Yet he completely understands that the label of illegality is in many ways an arbitrary one; illegality is socially constructed. Being undocumented is a serious issue, Juan points out. No one really wants to be "illegal" or "undocumented," but oftentimes circumstances necessitate bypassing formal processes due to the tenor of public discourse and the lack of appropriate programs and opportunities for keeping families and communities together.

The DACA ("Dreamer") program aimed to help young undocumented immigrants transition from an illegal towards a legal status, with net benefits to all stakeholders. As Gonzales (2011) points out, first- and 1.5-generation undocumented immigrants are tacitly protected by the public school system, but after high school graduation their role and status changes dramatically. They are now labeled "illegal," unable to participate fully in the labor market. They "move from protected to unprotected, from inclusion to exclusion, from de facto legal to illegal" (Gonzales, 2011, p. 602). In many cases, these children lack support from their teachers or school administrators, who cannot or will not advocate on their behalf due to ignorance of the laws and the rights afforded to the students. Bereft of opportunities to receive financial aid for college, or even to attend college as a domestic applicant, many children graduate high school with no prospects and end up in low-wage, dead-end jobs.

While Juan was fortunate enough to have family money to sustain his work in the United States, he knows many people who fell through the cracks. Some realize that the freedoms they took for granted in grade school will no longer protect them. They start to see their "illegal" and liminal status as a permanent condition from which escape is impossible. Many turn to black or grey market economies to supplement their meager incomes. They begin to develop a "tacit acceptance of their circumstances" and have "low expectations for the future" (Gonzales, 2011, p. 614). Because so many were kept in the dark about their legal status and the problems it might create for them, these young people are caught between worlds. They possess the social capital needed to succeed—such as education and English language skills—yet lack human capital such as mentors, guides, access to credible information, or financial support. Too many also find themselves in the precarious position of having to support family members, especially elders who lack English language skills or the ability to succeed independently. Essentially, they become trapped. The anti-immigrant discourse clouds the genuine humanitarian issues that could be resolved through simple and cost-effective policies and programs.

References

Fox, C. & Guglielmo, T. A. (2012). Defining America's racial boundaries: Blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants, 1890–1945. American Journal of Sociology, 118(2), 327–379.

Gonzales, R. G. (2011). Learning to be illegal: Undocumented youth and shifting legal contexts in the transition to adulthood. American Sociological Review, 76(4), 602–619.

Huntington, S. P. (2009). The Hispanic challenge. Foreign Policy, 28 Oct. 2009.

Jones-Correa, M. (2012). Contested ground. Transatlantic Council on Migration.

Massey, D. S. (1986). The social organization of Mexican migration to the United States. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 487, 102–113.

Massey, D. S. (n.d.). What were the paradoxical consequences of militarizing the border with Mexico?