immigration
Coming from a life of poverty and despair would cause anyone to search for a better life; a life in which there is the belief that all of your dreams can come true. This is the belief that many Mexican immigrants had about "El Norte," they believed that the north would provide them with the opportunity that their life in Mexico had not. Many Immigrants believed that the United States was "the land of opportunity," a place to find a successful job and live out the life that one only dreamt about living. The North was an open paradise for the immigrants. They were told by the people who had already ventured to the north that the United States was a "simple life, in which one could live like a king or queen, but in reality immigrants were treated like slaves in the new country that promised them their dreams. Most Immigrants who enter the United States are searching for work and the opportunity to live a better life. They are from small towns deep within Mexico that do not offer much opportunity for the people of the town to live a prosperous life and to provide for their family. In the small town of Sierra Mixteco, men women and children arrived in town at various times of the day bent over loads o
Looking back over the decades at Mexican immigration, the reasons for immigration have always been the same, job opportunity, and prosperity. In the early 19th century, American contractors went down into Mexico to recruit for cheap labor. Men were needed to build the future of the United States by laying track, mining, dredging and working on the harvest. As a year's contract was extended, and as economic independence was established, sons began following their father's north with the hopes of prosperity for themselves. f fire wood gathered from the mountains to sell in the town market (King, 14). For those who did not sell fire wood, they spent their time making straw hats to sell in the markets of larger towns, both of these jobs only provided pennies a day for the families to survive on. So the stories that the men brought back from the North gave the people of the small towns the hope that a better life did exist. Even though, many immigrants had the wish come true by finally making it to the North, all of their dreams did not come true. As seen through the decades, there was not an abundance of jobs available to immigrants and those that were available were low paying. Many immigrants simply worked until they had made enough money and then went back home to Mexico (Davis, 115). In the fall for example, after the harvest in the valley, families of Mexican and American children would load up and head back to Mexico for weeks and months. School teachers would say, "what a shame it was that Mexicans did that to their children" (taking them out of school to travel back to Mexico). (Light, 9). The life of immigrants was not all that they had expected, many were homesick for their native land, but yet they did not want to convey to their families how depressing life was in the United States; they only shared the good news (Davis, 40). As one man stated, "I want to return home more than anything else," (Light, 56). For those who did not stay in the United States, they returned home to their villages and towns and worked, but for those who did stay they tried to carry on and live the "American dream" in hopes that they would someday find the "Parad
Some common words found in the essay are:
Border Patrol, Mexico Immigrants, Sierra Mixteco, United Light, Mexico Light, Mexican Americans, Southern California, Mexicans Americans, Visas Catalano, Department Labor, catalano 51, found themselves, women children, low paying, immigrants treated, live life, land opportunity, light 52, jobs available, illegal aliens,
Approximate Word count = 1470
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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