Mexican Immigration History

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History and Issues of Mexican Immigration to the United States of America Jennifer Alfs Regis University Abstract The United States was founded and settled by immigrants from other countries seeking wealth and freedom from religious obligations. Even to this day, individuals from countries all over the globe, especially Mexico, have the hope and dream of moving to America in search of freedom from the devastated economies, natural disasters, and oppressive dictators in the countries they leave behind. When the unfathomable terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred, immigrants coming to America from other countries, even Mexico, raised concerns for our national security of the safety of our citizens. Congress is in tough debate over how to…show more content…
Historically, Mexico was a country in a political struggle between the Mexican people and the dictatorship of their President. The Mexican revolution began in 1910 and sparked a fight for land reform and improved economic conditions. It lasted for 11 miserable years and left the Mexican economy devastated and beyond repair. The trend continued after the Mexican Constitution of 1917, restricting land ownership. “As a result, many farmers and farm laborers (particularly given the typically large families they must support) gravitated towards Mexico’s cities in search of great opportunities – or looked to the United States (Hauser,…show more content…
is either an alien or a legal citizen. From 1980 to 1990, three pieces of legislation were adopted in an attempt to overhaul America’s immigration policy such as the Refugee Act of 1980, the Immigration Reform Act of 1986, and the Immigration Act of 1990. No recent event has dominated the thinking and actions of the American public and its leaders as the attacks of September 11, 2001. “The threat to national security posed by international terrorism led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, the largest reorganization of the federal government since the creation of the Department of Defense after World War II. DHS merged 22 federal agencies and dissolved INS, which had been part of the Department of Justice since 1941. The terrorist attacks of 2001 became a catalyst for passage of far-reaching laws with implications not only for suspected terrorists, but also for foreign-born individuals already in the United States and all noncitizens seeking to enter the country. The most well-known among these has been the USA Patriot Act, which then President George W. Bush signed in October 2001” (Retrieved from http://www.migrationinformation.org, 2011). The act expanded the law enforcement powers of the federal government to uphold illegal immigration

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