Dying to Cross: Mexican and Central American Migration to the Best Country In the World
& a comprehensive plan for the future
Over the last year, thousands of immigrants have risked their lives on the 2,000 mile journey from
Central America to the United States. By 2013, the Migration Policy Institute estimates upwards of 11
million undocumented migrants have crossed the border in search of a better life.cite
Mexican migration to the United States has been a long-standing, controversial topic since it first
became illegal in the early 1920s. Since then, the frequency and quantity of Mexican and Central
American migrants arriving south of the border has fluctuated respectively. Cite While Mexican
apprehensions across the U.S. border have been the lowest in 60 years, we have seen a drastic influx in
unaccompanied child migrants taking treacherous journeys to flee their native countries from violence,
corruption, extortion, and much more in search of a better life. The United States continues to have an
abiding appeal to millions of those who are unhappy with or afraid of their native country. While Obama
thesis?
The United States has a long history of anti-immigration and restriction, beginning in 1921 when
Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act in response to the surge of primarily European immigrants
arriving at the border. The US has since made notable efforts toward immigration reform but still has a
long way to go. Today, U.S. Border Patrol data shows a steep decline in Mexican apprehensions at the the
border. Their records show more non-Mexicans than Mexicans at the border in more than 60 years, a
historic low. However, there has been a significant increase in apprehensions and processings of
unaccompanied minors from Central America entering the United States.
President Barack Obama stated at the Union Address that this has become a “humanitarian
crisis”.
Brain drain
large-scale immigration
Bibliography
U.S. Department of State. The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed
Act).
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/24/334041633/amid-wave-of-child-immigrants-reports-of-abuse-byborder-patrol
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-andimmigration-united-states
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2700946/From-bribing-drug-cartels-immigrationofficials-paying-hotels-train-rides-Coyote-smugglers-reveal-costs-involved-smugglingchild-migrants-Central-America-U-S.html
Villegas, Rodrigo. Central American Migrants and La Bestia Route Dangers and
Government Responses. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2014.
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-united-states
http://people.howstuffworks.com/immigration6.htm
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/30/letter-president-efforts-addresshumanitarian-situation-rio-grande-valle
Walser, McNeill, Zuckerman. The Human Tragedy of Illegal Immigration: Greater Efforts
Needed to COmbat Smuggling and Violence. Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation,
2011. (Walser, McNeill and Zuckerman, 2011)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/6/279
http://billmoyers.com/2014/07/11/americas-refugee-problem-is-trivial-our-response-isdownright-shameful/
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