General International Migration Trends

• immigrants often initially settle in "port-of-entry" states/cities
• most immigrants gravitate to cities with social networks/relatives already in place
• Latin Americans comprise the single largest foreign-language population in the US and probably the largest population of undocumented migrants as well
• Asians are the fastest-growing group of legally admitted immigrants with annual entries rising from 236,000 in 1980 to 264,000 in 1985. The most represented countries of origin are the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan
• while immigrants constituted 10 % of the US population in 1987, they made up 30% in New York City and 15% in LA and Chicago (in part because of the expanded service sector in response to the concentration of high-income workers).

• southward and westward movement (out of recession-plagued "Rust Belt" and New England); out of agricultural, Midwestern areas (the "frost belt")
• movement of retirees into Florida or other "Sunbelt" cities
• movements corresponding to economic growth in particular areas (i.e., Washington state)
• movement of African-Americans into historic South Atlantic and southern cities
• movement of African-Americans out of areas with large black communities that have recently suffered hard times (e.g., Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland)
• movement of college graduates into large economically dynamic metro areas (e.g., San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Dallas)

• most immigrants are attracted to a small number of destinations
• many recent, less-educated internal migrants are directed to different destinations than those attracting international migrants because they don’t want to compete for low-skilled jobs, which is often the only kind of work immigrants can obtain. (Note: this doesn’t mean that all international migrants are low-skilled! Point out to students that low-skilled jobs, often in the service sector, are those most readily available to these migrants and that even highly educated migrants often find themselves in these jobs as, for example, taxi-drivers or residential high-rise attendants. Likewise, try to dispel the myth that immigrants are "taking jobs away" from native workers; these are jobs that native workers often don’t want because of the nature of the job, e.g., custodial work, or its low pay). Refer to the supplemental article by Gregory Defreitas for more information on these issues.

 

Activity 2.3:  Images of Latin America

This activity is primarily an in-class discussion; therefore, no specific answers are provided. Students are asked to prepare a short essay about the representation of Latin Americans in two articles and two advertisements. You may choose to assign the essay simply as a way to help students prepare for the discussion. Alternatively, you can ask students to hand in the essay with copies of the articles and images. In this case, student essays should be thoughtful, critical, and should respond briefly to the questions posed on the worksheet.
 
 

Activity 2.4:  Continent on the Move

In your discussion of the film, begin by asking the students to share their responses to the questions on the student worksheet. Students may be more willing to talk if they have something written down in front of them that they have thought about prior to class. Start with the first question, which is a general "listing" question, and move through the questions that get progressively more discussion-oriented.

Below are answers to each question that the students are likely to come up with.

1. What are some of the macro-forces that have encouraged movement out of the Mexican countryside, throughout the last several decades and during the 1980s and 1990s? Name at least three.
• the decay of the rural economy due to the privileging of agribusiness post-1940;
• ejido plots of poor quality and small size to begin with;
• ISI between 1940-70s directed investment more toward the cities;
• the debt crisis in the 1980s;
• the preparations for free trade ( including "industrial parks replacing ploughs and tractors" says the narrator and/or the dismantling of Article 27 which ends land reform and allows for the sale of ejido plots).
• According to Jonathon Kandell (1988, excerpted in Joseph and Szuchman 1996) between 1940 and 1970, more than 4 million people left their homes in the countryside to establish themselves in the capital (p.184). There was a 74% increase in the numbers of landless agrarian workers between 1940 and 1960 (p.185).

2. What pull factors have attracted peasants to Mexico City historically?
• ISI policies privileging city growth and urban industrialization;
• oil revenues providing more money for urban infrastructure investment;
• real wages climbing during the "Mexican Miracle" in the 1970s;
• better opportunities for social mobility (growing middle class);
• increasingly better services provided for poorer neighborhoods (emphasize that this was in the 1970s however, when oil revenues were at their peak); and
• family ties and networks.

3. From what you’ve seen, what does city life entail for poorer in-migrants? Give examples of the opportunities and constraints that you noticed.
• informal economy (can be viewed as an opportunity -- people of any skills can work -- and a constraint -- poor wages, working conditions);
• begging;
• poor housing conditions;
• garbage picking;
• lack of social services;
• surplus laborers keeping wages low (re: the scene showing the open air "market" for construction laborers);
• family support and cooperation being a crucial "survival strategy";
• urban violence; and
• coalition-building and self-help projects.

4. According to the film, where has urbanization shifted to recently in Mexico? Why? Compared to Mexico City, are there similar problems/issues in these newer developments?

Urbanization has shifted to the northern border area of Mexico because of the rise of the maquiladora ("maquilas") industry. This is directly linked to our theme of global economic change/globalization. To illustrate, you can talk about the geographic disintegration of the manufacturing process and that the maquilas are responsible for the assembly of certain (often small electrical) components of, for example, Walkmans, CD players, or cars, which are then sent somewhere else to finish the assembly process. The film does a great job of showing how women are vital to this process, because of their cheap labor. You can also explore this "gendering" of the global manufacturing process with the students. See Kamel (1990) for a discussion of this topic in general.
 

5. In general, how were the Mexican people in the film portrayed?

Mexican people are portrayed as hard-working, dedicated to their families and improving their lives, entrepreneurial, articulate, and determined to fight actively for their rights. This question can also lead to a discussion of broader issues. Ask students: Were you surprised by these portrayals? Why? What affected your perceptions? Discuss how this depiction of Mexicans is different from ways that the average American might see them
 

6. What examples did you see of people working against structural forces?

• The example of Assemblea de Barrios (barrios assembly) as a grassroots initiative working to improve shanty-town conditions and the government responses to, and support for, them. The character of "Superbarrio Gomez"; the coming together of a wide variety of peasant organizations in the rally protesting the dismantling of Article 27.
• Ask students whether they think these kinds of actions will have any effects on larger scale operations. Have there been any examples in the US where "the people" have affected government policies? Let them consider this question for a while, and then, in order to reinforce the idea that structural forces are not always so monolithic that they cannot be changed, point out the example of the Chiapas rebellion. This is a great example of people organizing against structural forces (in this case, in protest against the way that NAFTA, and neoliberal restructuring in general, did not consider the effects on native ways of life and cultures) and actually making a difference! The Zapatistas galvanized widespread public support (from Mexicans and foreigners alike) that in turn put pressure on the Mexican government to consider the Zapatista grievances. Moreover, a number of Mexican scholars (including, e.g., June Nash; John Ross and Jorge Castaneda) have credited the Zapatistas with encouraging massive disinvestment and subsequently, the fall of the peso in December 1994.