Phan 1 Tammy Phan 2/21/13 LALS 1 TA: Salvador Contreras Section D Midterm Essay (Prompt #2) In recent years,

many Latino-ethnic groups migrated in large-scale to the United States. Many Latino-ethnic groups have different reasons why they choose, or are forced, to leave their homelands. These reasons are evidence of certain factors that explain the trends of the recent migration. The factors that best explain the patterns of recent large-scale migration from Latin America to the United States are US structural and economic policies and US military intervention in the Latin American countries. This essay explains the similarities and differences between the experiences of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans through readings, lectures, and movies as evidence. Mexicans are the largest Latino group in the United States and their reasons of migrating in recent years were the unique relationship [Mexico and the United States], and the economic dislocation caused by the economic policies implemented by the Mexican government (Bedolla 2009, 89). In the 1980s, United States, Canada, and Mexico passed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a trade liberation which allowed commerce to cross over the Mexican border and opened the North American markets to the Mexican economy. This act affects Mexicos rural poor which increased unemployment in the fields and cause displacement of Mexican farmers after losing their lands. US agricultural companies encourage the migration by recruiting workers to work at the industrial belt of the American Midwest. This forced Mexicans to migrate to the United States to provide for their families by sending back

Phan 2 remittances. Northward migration has been Mexicans response to economic difficulties since the early 20th century (Bedolla 2009, 89). The reception that the Mexicans received has been racial discrimination. For example, during the Jim Crow segregation in the United States, the Mexicans faced racial discrimination, such as minimum wage jobs, segregated neighborhoods, and segregated schools. Also, Mexican Americans were victims of lynchings, deportations, and other kinds of harassment. To address these living situations in the United States, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Chicano Movement were composed of a number of groups organizing activities to spread awareness of their issues and fight for equal employment, housing, and education. In spite of the considerable progress that has been made since, Mexican Americans in the United States still face many social, economic, and political challenges. Ever since the United States intervene in Puerto Rican affairs in 1898, Puerto Rico has not been an independent country and has very limited right to self-governance (Lecture 8, 2/14/13). In 1947, the Puerto Rican legislature approved the Industrial Incentives Act, which provided tax breaks, low-cost labor, and land to US businesses to encourage them to move manufacturing to the island (Bedolla 2009, 100). The movie, Harvest of Empire, explained that this act helped with the industrialization of the island, building infrastructures and roads, and generated jobs that didnt exist. From 1958 to 1977, the country experienced a dramatic economic growth in the industrialization sector. However, this caused a dramatic decline in the agrarian sector. This economic transformation led to significant displacement in the Puerto Rican society, which eventually lead to a mass migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States. This large movement of Puerto Ricans is known as the Great Migration. Because Puerto Ricans are US citizens after the passing of the Jones Act in 1917, they require no immigration documents in order to migrate to the United States. Also, another reason for the mass migration is that US

Phan 3 companies and US government officials began to see Puerto Ricans as a source of cheap labor and recruited them on the island. New York Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr publically welcome any Puerto Rican who was willing to work in New York factories. When migrated to the United States, Puerto Ricans had difficulty fitting into the US black/white racial binary because of their mixed race background. The Puerto Rican community had integration limits into the major optical parties and limits of economic opportunities in the United States. To improve their quality of life, the Puerto Rican community became active to increase their opportunities to hold political office and their political influence. Today in the United States, Puerto Ricans still face poverty and a lack of socioeconomic mobility. Cubas relationship with the United States is unique compared to the other Latin American countries relationship with the United States. The United States have been involved with Cuban affairs since 1899 when the United States installed a provisional military government in Cuba, and began a debate as to what should happen to the country (Bedolla 2009, 122). The United States were heavily involved with Cubas government and its economy in the early 1900s. However, in 1952, Sergeant Fulgencio Batista return to power in a coup since the 1940s, and lead a dictatorship in Cuba. The United States strongly supported Batistas dictatorship and provided the Cuban government with military aid. In return, Batistas government supported US economic interests in Cuba by allowing American companies enter into the Cuban market. Cubans, on the other hand, opposed the Batista government because of his oppression. The Cuban Revolution began as Castro rose to power, overthrow Batista, and began his dictatorship. In 1959, Cuba enacted its Agrarian Reform Law which distributed all farmlands to Cuban peasants and workers. Since many of those previous landowners were USbased companies, the agrarian reform law quickly led to increased opposition to the Cuban

Phan 4 regime in the United States. The United Fruit Company pushed for US intervention in Cuba. In addition, the US government began to lose influence in Castro. The US took drastic actions to remove Castro from power and take back Cuba by planning the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. The operation failed and the relationship between US and Cuba has deteriorated to the point of embargos and banning of trade and travel between the two countries. In 1965, Castro announced that those who want to leave the country to reunite with their families in US can do so. To provide a safer means of transportation, US provided an airborne refugee operation that lead to much larger-scale migration. The last wave of migration was in 1980, when Castro said people can leave the country through the port of Mariel. These refugees, the Mariel Cubans, were given limited government assistance because this created an enormous amount of strain on social services in the Miami area at the time. The reception the Cubans have received once enter into the United States were welcoming, which is a rarity for Latino groups. The Cubans who were against Castro were exiled to the United States during the Revolution. With the current situation between Cuba and United States at the time, the Cuban immigrants were provided with US financial assistance and had high-level political access. The Cubans faced discrimination, however were accepted into the Miami community and were not segregated. The Cubans arrived in the United Sates after the start of the civil rights movement, and were therefore not subject to segregation and exclusion in the same ways as Mexican Americans or Puerto Ricans had been (Bedolla 2009, 137). In conclusion, the factors that describe the recent large-scale migration from Latin America to the United States include structural policies that affect the political, economic, and social status in the Latin American countries, and military intervention that created military dictatorship and government destabilization. Many Latino-ethnic groups mentioned in the essay

Phan 5 have similar and different reasons for migrating. They also experienced similar and different US reception once arrive in the United States. Cubans received the most unique US reception than the other Latino-ethnic groups. While other groups were segregated and faced exclusion, Cubans were accepted and were given direct economic assistance from the US government. In the end, Latino groups all have similar reasons to flee their homelands. They wanted to get away from the violence that devastated their countries and provide their children opportunities like an education and a better way of living. As Juan Gonzalez, the author of Harvest of Empire, said No one likes to leave their home. No one relishes the idea of abandoning their families and children and loved one for years at a time. They only do it out of desperation. They do it because they no longer could live in the condition that theyre facing in their own countries.