The Economist (December 18-31, 2010) has a three-page article about migrant Mexican farmworkers, entitled “Fields of tears: they came to America illegally, for the best of reasons” (subscription required for web access).
This article is a great educational resource, offering dozens of possible debating points. It relates the adventures and misadventures of a young family from the state of Oaxaca, following them from their initial decision to leave for “El Norte” (USA) to their successive attempts to cross the border. They finally succeeded and “joined the vast undocumented workforce that undergirds America’s food supply”.
The Economist correspondent toiled alongside Mexican field workers as they picked strawberries in temperatures of up to 40 degrees C. (100 degrees F). The article goes on to consider the lifestyles of migrants, their access to services such as education and health care, and the degree to which they are welcomed by native-born Americans.
Looking at the life and motivation of a single family is a highly effective way of gaining familiarity with the multitude of issues related to the major flow of migrants from Mexico to the USA.
Previous posts related to Mexico-USA migration:
- Remittances sent back to Mexico rose only 0.12% in 2010
- Mexican migrants pay 53 billion dollars a year in US taxes
- The US Bracero guest worker program
- The link between climate change and migration from Mexico to the USA
- Migration channels between Mexico and the USA, or how distant towns are linked through migration
- Over half a million natives of the state of Puebla live in New York City
- The impact of the economic recession on Mexico-USA migration
Migration between Mexico and the USA is the focus of chapter 25 of Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico. Ask your library to buy a copy of this handy reference guide to all aspects of Mexico’s geography today! Better yet, order your own copy…
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