Concepts of Territory and Flow in Migration Via Mexico-US Border - Coursework Example

Running Head: Ways in which concepts of territory and flow help us understand people’s experiences of migration in the Mexico-US border Name: Course Name: Course Instructor: Date: Economic opportunities between USA and Mexico Migration from Mexico to the United States is economically motivated. The nominal wage differences between the two countries for years (approximately a ratio of 10:1) can be seen as a favor in United States for most of the manual as well as the semiskilled jobs. The economical differences between the two countries has made most of the Mexicans to move from their country to US in search for better paying jobs. You find that the sustained and the stable economic growth in US have led to a strong demand for the Mexican workers found in the low ends of the labor market: service industries, high turn offer manufacturing, construction and seasonal agriculture to move there. When you compare the two countries, you will see that US has a stable economic growth than Mexico. This means that there are more industries ready to offer casual and skilled jobs for people from Mexico. Due to the few industries in Mexico compared to the number of its citizens, people are forced to migrate to US in search for these ready jobs (Alonso-Zaldivar 2003). In 1997, most of the Mexican migrants originated from the rural areas of the central Mexico and most of them were confined at the US agricultural sectors in the southwest. The agricultural sectors in US grew so adversely rendering ready jobs for these locals. Most of these jobs were casuals and most of the Mexicans from the rural moved to these areas in order to secure these jobs. As hundreds of the Mexicans during the 1970s and 80s reached their working age, the Mexican labor market could not absorb them and this was due to the Mexicans large economic restructuring which cut most of the workers jobs. For example in 1993, Maquiladoras, one of the companies in US employed about 540,000 Mexicans and during its peak in 2000, it made a record of 1.3million jobs (Alonso-Zaldivar 2003). Many Mexicans work in the United States in order to help their families south of the border. The money these immigrants earn help in raising their living standards as well as improving the Mexican economy. One in ten (1/10) of the Mexican families according to the national population council of Mexico depend upon remittances ( this is money sent home by the Mexican workers in the united states) as their source of income ( Alonso-Zaldivar 2003). The importance of remittances and the Diasporas Remittances in Mexico are third largest source of income in Mexico according to the Mexico’s migration policy institute. The Mexicans migration to the United States until the 1980s had importantly regional effects and this is when the emigration became more common across Mexico. The remittances have increased in importance and volume e.g. from $6.6 billion in 2000 to $27.1 in 2007 and this was according to a report by Banco de Mexico (2007). Unfortunately, the recent severe recession in the United States in most of the sectors which employed these Mexicans cut down these flows. This recession which led to this decline in the flow of the Mexicans meant a relapse in to poverty for many families in this country and more especially to the rural which also saw a slow down of economic activity at the society level (Anderson 2000) Transit migration and detention The seasonal and the economic migration of the Guatemalans through the Mexico’s borders to US were seen as regional phenomena. In 1980s, the prevailing civil wars in Guatemala made most of the displaced Central Americans transit through the Mexico’s borders looking for jobs in the United States. For instance over many years the migrants from South America e.g. the Ecuador has used the Mexico as a transit country and this has been a central concern by the government of Mexico. In 1990, the transit migration gained importance and this was as a result of the united state putting pressure on Mexico to put laws concerning its border in order to control the massive movements of the Central Americans to the United States illegally via Mexico (Armbruster 2006). In response to the US requests, apart from erecting a border fence, Mexico opted for increasing interior enforcements for instance, setting up checkpoints along its major highways. Mexico also stepped up deportations, by signing agreements with Guatemala and the other Central American countries asking Mexico to turn any unauthorized person back to their own countries. The issue of transit migration to US had a great impact in the size of population. The illegal migrants were detained in the receiving country and this led to stopping illegal people from entering and settling at the US borders (Armbruster 2006). Effect on identities in border areas Borders are an integral part of identities in any country. The identities are not static but keep on been de/re constructed hence processes of identity construction require an ongoing process of bordering. In US, it is increasingly been recognized that its ethnic and cultural background is more like a salad bowl whereby everyone maintains a unique identity and provides a certain contribution to the community. The borders in Mexico and the United States signify the different identities on both sides of the borders and the projection of countries which are regarded as nation states as one of the significant cornerstone of identities. The citizens of the two countries both individual and at the collective level have played a role in bordering and identity construction. For instance in US, people do participate in social networks with diverse structures and equality: families, institutions, local communities, religions e.t.c. The major problem with immigration comes when the issue of immigration arises. You find that the seekers dominate the migrant landscape. For instance, 45% of the Mexicans residents are born in US and most of them are concentrated in these borders. When these immigrants settle in US, they do form a territory and a good example is the Spanish-speaking radio stations and Mexican ceremonies creating a Mexican cultural ‘territory’ within the USA. (Clark 2000). The region between the Gulf of Mexico and Baja California has been inhabited by so many Native American societies which first settled and used the land. The Spanish took ownership of this land in grants which where made by the Spanish crown, the mestizos combined Indian and Spanish heritage also inhabited this region, the English speaking citizens of the united states also settled in this land. So the border region is thought to be composed of all these principle groups of landowners hence completely it has transformed the sociocultural life of this particular region. A first critical component in the escalation of the border control by the US was by increasing the annual budget of the immigration and the nationality service. The number of the border patrols was doubled e.g. from 2,500 patrols in the 1980s to 12,000 patrols today. The government has also raised the risks as well as the costs of the illegal crossings. This has restricted most of the Mexicans from migrating to US in fear of these arrests and charges which are imposed to them. (Clark 2000). In trying to protect its identities, much attention has gone to the outstanding array of control technologies as well as the vast military materials which have been deployed on its border. You find that most of the military officers have been deployed to these borders to ensure that no illegal immigrants come to the country. After 15 years of strengthening as well as weaponizing the border control members which is aimed at unauthorized immigration coming to the US from and via Mexico, the following has been achieved: a sharp increase of the cost of each arrest by the immigrant when caught, a growth in the unauthorized immigrant population and fewer arrest. Borders become an integral part of identities as people continuously continue constructing their identity; they are also continuously engaged in the bordering process. You find that the borders between national states do imply a different identity on both sides of the borders but in border areas these issues are blurred and this is more especially when religious, ethnic and language communities cross these borders. The biggest question here is: how do the people from the other side of the border feel at home? (Clark 2000). Conclusion The issue of legal and illegal migration is an issue which involves both countries, i.e. the sending and the receiving country to have great responsibility and corporate together in order to ensure that they have come to an agreeable solution to this problem. For instance, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CIEP) together with the Institute Technologic Autonomy (ITAM) worked together when writing the Mexico-US Migration (A shared responsibility). This issue has helped in solving the many problems between the two countries in ensuring that the countries identity has been retained and cutting down the illegal immigration of people from one country to another. References Alonso-Zaldivar, R (2003) Move opens to stop use of the Mexicans immigrants, ID Cards. Los Angels Times, Vol 6(45) Anderson, B (2000) Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Revised Ed. New York: Verso Armbruster, R (2006) Towards a comparative history of borderlands, Journal of world history 4(3): 234-345 Banco de Mexico (2007) The importance of remittances and the Diasporas. International journal of population geography 5(1): 121-276 Clark, W (2000) Large-scale immigration and political response: Popular reaction in California. International journal of population geography 5(1): 12-43 Read More