This paper examines the multi-dimensional impacts of immigration from Mexico on women in the United States. It considers the challenges faced by both legal and illegal immigrant women, including family separation and deportation risk, as well as the discrimination experienced by Latina citizens who face compounded disadvantages based on race and gender. The paper also discusses the persistent gender wage gap affecting all women and analyzes the DREAM Act—its provisions, criticisms, and potential economic benefits—through the lens of how immigration policy uniquely shapes the lives of women and mothers across different legal statuses.
The impacts of immigration from Mexico on women in the United States are the focus of this paper. The topic includes implications related to the Mexican border crossing as well as women's justice concerns. These impacts are multi-dimensional and ultimately affect both citizens of the United States and the legal and illegal immigrants who come to the United States either from or through Mexico.
The impacts on women related to immigration at the Mexican border are highly multi-dimensional and, depending on one's perspective, simultaneously disparate and similar. Legal and illegal immigrant women face significant challenges because they often cross the border with a partner and/or their children. In other cases, they cohabitate with or marry an American spouse, have children, and then face the prospect of being separated from their families when they or their partner face deportation for violating U.S. immigration laws.
Even women who were born in or are native to the United States face serious issues. Women of Mexican or other Hispanic descent often encounter derision or outright racism stemming from deeply held biases and bigotry directed toward Mexican and other Latin American women. While it is true that millions of undocumented men and women reside in the United States, women of those ethnic backgrounds frequently face unwarranted pressure and scrutiny that is neither fair nor appropriate, given that they are in fact citizens with the same rights as any other citizen.
"Wage gaps and compounded EEOC disadvantages for Latina women"
"DREAM Act debate, criticism, and impact on immigrant mothers"
CSAC. (2013, July 30). California Dream Act. California Student Aid Commission. Retrieved July 30, 2013, from
Mascaro, L. (2013, July 23). House GOP reconsiders Dream Act idea for young immigrants. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 30, 2013, from http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-kids-20130724,0,1230382.story
You’re 36% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.