Maribel Rivera
SOC 202-02
Article Summary:
In El
Cargadero, Mexico there is rarely anyone the Mexican villages and the bulk of
them are empty. This is because few are
left to dream of U.S. Because of this
homes have been waiting for families to return and dozens of schools have
closed because of lack of students. Only a few hundred remain in El Cargader
live in this once-thriving farm community that had 3,000 people living there.
Fermin Saldivar Ureno an avocado farmer explains, “It’s not like it used to
be”. He has thirteen brothers and sisters who all live in California. “There
just aren’t as many people to go” he explains.
Moreover,
in the U.S. Congress believe providing a pathway to citizenship for the
estimated 11 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. would mean only
more illegal immigration. On the other hand, Cave explains, “Past experience
and current trends in both Mexico and United States suggest that legalization
would not lead to sudden flood of illegal immigration on the scale of what
occurred after 1986.” Cave believes this because the border now has maximum
control, birth rates have fallen, and jobs in the U.S. are no longer flush with
jobs. There is a lot of political debate going on with the idea of Mexican
immigration in the U.S. For example,
Republican lawmakers see what can go wrong with allowing immigration and the
Immigration Reform and Control Act is the prime example of what can go wrong.
Article Sociological Analysis/Critique:
It is
safe to assume that most member of a global society would consider that illegal
immigration has many far-reaching consequences that many are not aware of. For years there have been debates whether
illegal immigration has been a good or bad thing. The good part we see is
having immigrants for cheap labor. The
bad part some view immigrants abusing / overusing the schools and health care
systems.
On the
other hand, the article fails to mention I believe about more details about immigrants
themselves, and their families. This article does not discuss more in details
why these families leave the villages, instead it discuss about political
topics (especially how Mexican immigrants will put a burden on our health and
school system) about immigration. It totally ignores the hardships immigrants
have to go through, and the impact it has on the families back home in Mexico.
Most of the money immigrants are paid Mexican immigrants are sending it back to
home to their family members. Overall, illegal immigrants suffer many
hardships, as their families in Mexico also suffer hardship because of a family
member moving to the U.S. Some of the hardships that families suffer in Mexico
and immigrants in the U.S. is the fact that their family member has
left/abandoned his home in Mexico for the U.S. leaving their wives, children,
and aged parents. A family transition happens as families enjoy money and goods
sent home for a brief time, letters become few and far between as husbands,
sons, and brothers. Things become different between for families in Mexico and
their family member in U.S. because the immigrant starts to adjust to their new
lifestyle and begin to spend their paychecks on material things like
television, cars, and other luxuries. The families in Mexico have to carry the
suffering hardships as they have to adjust to this new lifestyle their
immigrant son, husband, brothers are having in the U.S., as many even find new
wives, and start new families, leaving their old ones in Mexico to fend for
themselves. Moreover, these immigrant workers face potential harms when crossing
the border. Either way it goes these immigrant workers health are at risk.
Most
importantly, from a democratic standpoint, this immigration of Mexicans has
always been a social problem as more and more are immigrating to the U.S. , but
as these families face social issues in Mexico it is important to understand
the hardships not only what the Mexican immigrants face here in the U.S., but
also the hardship the families in Mexico face back home. Therefore from a
democratic standpoint this social problem needs to be identified, understood,
and dealt with because in the U.S. we are supposed to be a democracy, so most
of our concerns should be a commitment to bettering the human condition. This
should be the same view for the Mexican government as many of the people in
Mexico living condition have worsened. Mexico also needs to revise the
government power with a focus on political and social equality to reduce this
social problem that is happening with families in Mexico.
Article Title: In Mexican Villages, Few Are Left to Dream of
U.S.
http://www.twincities.com/national/ci_22930318/empty-mexican-villages-few-are-dreaming-u-s
Resources:
Charon and Vigilant 2009 Chapter 1 “An Introduction to
the Study of Social Problems” in Social Problems Readings with Four
Questions
Maribel Rivera, April 4, 2013, 11:04 PM
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