Immigration in Mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Immigration in Mexico - Essay Example The paper will analyze the effect of such migration on the Mexican economy along with its ramifications for the U.S. economy. Before we delve into this issue any further it is perhaps best to do a quick study of the country. Mexico is the third largest nation in North America and among the fifteen largest in the world. It is bordered by the U.S. in the north and by Guatemala and Belize in the south. Mexico is poor in natural resources except oil. However it is rich in mineral sources like gold and silver. These two countries, Mexico and the U.S., have a long and shared history. One of the momentous events in this shared history has been the annexation of large parts of Mexico by the U.S. in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. This treaty effectively ended Mexican claims to the state of Texas while at the same time Mexico also incurred the loss of the state of California and much of modern day Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona. This annexation had been engineered by James Polk, the eleventh President of the U.S. The annexation had been largely supported by the American people though Polk's means and methods to achieve it were even at that time highly suspect. Mexico had losMexico had lost much of its agricultural land in this transaction which compensation by the U.S could not rectify. Daniel Levy and Gabriel Szekely in their book Mexico - Paradoxes of Stability and Change believe that Mexico's political stability is inadvertently tied with its economic growth. This is supported by Daniel James in Mexico And The Americans where he remarks that single party rule in Mexico, though not an encouraging aspect about Mexico may have helped her progress in the long run. Similarly Haber and Razo reject the claims of other historians that the Mexican Revolution (1910 - 1919) had a negative impact on the industrial growth of Mexico. In fact they say that there was an overall growth in sectors like cotton textiles, steel and cement industries. The 1920's saw a massive increase of import of U.S. made heavy machinery by Mexico for use in its industries. Mexico had an economic boom in the Post - War years but some fifty years later it also suffered a c ollapse of its economy when the peso became almost worthless. It is hardly surprising that many Mexicans try to seek employment in the U.S. A majority among these enter the U.S. illegally to work primarily in agriculture and factories.Mexico, on the other hand, also absorbs a large number of immigrants from the Central American countries who emigrate to work in Mexico or use it as a gateway to enter the U.S. Over the years relations between the two countries have had their fair share of successes and reversals. Mexico's problems stem in part from being the neighbor of the most powerful country in the world. Mexico is among the ten most populous countries in the world. It also has an immense disparity between its rich and its poor. Illegal immigration is one of the thorniest issues that beleaguer U.S. - Mexico relations. Typically Americans feel swamped by their neighbors and hostility ensues. The U.S Census Office estimated that in the years 1999 - 2000 the foreign - born population had increased by 50 pc when in