Mexican Immigration Outline SOC305/CULTURAL DIVERSITY
DR. Alex Espadas
May 27, 2013

By: Jamie Burrell, Sherrelle McCloud, and Kimberly Ramirez

Economic Opportunity
A.Issues in the labor force with Mexican immigrants
i. Hard to find good paying jobs in The United States ii.Many Mexican immigrants are low skilled iii.As the labor market changes it is causing migration back to
Mexico (Portes, A. 1997).

B. Many immigrants are employed in low wage, dangerous jobs
i. The health of the immigrant worker is compromised by the way the job is designed and managed, although it has not been thoroughly investigated (de Castro, Arnold
B, PhD, MSN/MPH, RN, Fujishiro, K., Sweitzer, E.,
& Oliva, J. 2006). ii. Issues were hiring and firing practices, work hours,
Schedule and physical work environment. iii. Exposure to chemical, physical and bio hazards

Challenges in the labor force for Mexican Immigrants
A. Being hired through an agency

i. Having to pay a deposit to the agency, but not getting their money back when they left the job ii.Untrained workers were forced to operate equipment or perform other tasks in which they did not feel comfortable iii.Threatened dismissal for not knowing how to speak English
a. Immigration status
b. Plays a crucial role in keeping the job
c. Undocumented workers were often threatened with dismissal

B. Employers use their status as ways to control the workers actions
C. Job demands
D.Physical conditional affected their work performance E. Medical conditions cause some workers to not keep up pace
F. Lack of or no training on how to properly do the job Opportunities in the labor force for
Mexican Immigrants
A. The nation’s fastest growing labor group B. At the turn of the century immigrants began their American careers

Religion and Financial strain
A. How society has constructed Mexican immigrants identity
i.

Just fewer than six out of ten Americans have a favorable view of
Mexican immigrants in the United States

ii.

Several shifts since 2004 that show signs of public readiness (Six in
Ten Americans Have a Favorable View of Mexican Immigrants in
US." PVAngels :: Are You Ready to Make a Difference, 2013)

iii. For reform iv. Also a sharp decrease between 1994 and 2012 in the number who say that immigration in a critical threat to the United States

B. Religion
i. Mexico is the largest catholic and protestant-sending country to the United States ii. Catholic and protestant denominations are growing in raw numbers iii.Catholic immigration from Mexico is so massive iv. Some Mexicans leave the catholic faith, however at least seventy percent remain (Murray, B., 2005).

C. Financial Strain
i. Accept low paying jobs because they are low skilled ii. They barely have money to take care of themselves because they send the majority of their money back home to Mexico iii. Immigrants send money back home in order to overcome financial hardship iv. Most of their earnings are spent on basic living expenses
v. Majority of Mexican immigrants send their money to female members of the family in lower income rural areas vi. Most of immigrants send back on average one hundred to three hundred dollars a month to Mexico vii. Recently arrived immigrants have a lower earnings than native born workers with a similar education level (Hall, M., Greenman, E., & Farkas, G., 2010). viii. Mexican immigrants who worked fulltime(2003) earned a median of $20,840 ix. The fact the Mexican immigrants have a low educational level contributes to their low earnings (Solheim, C. A., Rojas-García, G., Olson, P. D., & Zuiker, V.
2012).

The Legal Framework
A.Permanment Visas can be given to immigrants who want to come to the United States to live.
i. Obtain a “green card” which allows a non-citzen to work in the United States at any job. ii. Live anywhere in the United States for the rest of their life. Temporary Worker Visas can be give to immigrants who want to come work in the United States.
i. Athletes, business professionals, or