A Tale of Illegal Immigrants Mexico to the USA

- Has grown rapidly since 1960 – legal (1m a year) and illegal (0.5m a year) - Border is 3000km long, biggest in the world

MEXICO TO THE USA MAIN ISSUES Around 1,000,000 people a year are caught by the United States Border Patrol trying to cross the border. Many of these are repeat offenders. Why do people try to cross the border illegally ? What are the push factors ? What are the pull factors ? full-circle.html

What would make you risk a crossing ? What do you think most American’s think of the ‘illegal aliens’ or ‘pollos’ as they are called ? Why are some people glad to see the illegal immigrants? m

Farming is not easy in many parts of Mexico. Here, soil erosion by rain has ruined a farm in eastern Mexico

Most of the topsoil has been washed away – fertility reduced by 75% - very difficult to farm

In drier parts, fields have been made unfarmable by wind erosion of the soil

and it does not help when the wind deposits the soil again – this fence is 2 metres high

This is happening over a wide area in the drier parts near the USA border.

Most farms are very small, divided between sons when the farmer dies – count the number of buildings, each one represents a separate farm

a typical village in the Sierra Madre – no piped water, sewerage or electricity

And no jobs, apart from farming – no factories come here

There are not many universities for more able children, just in the largest cities.

And the secondary schools are mostly in towns,

which is where the hospitals are

while villages might have small clinics

In Tijuana, much of the housing is self-made shacks, called shanty towns, lacking proper water supply and sewerage

which have sprung up close to the border

The busiest border crossing in the world

The border at night

PUSH FACTORS High unemployment in Mexico Low wages Poor health care Fewer educational opps Uneconomic farming Poor housing, shanties… Civil unrest Natural disasters (1985 Mexico quake)

PULL FACTORS USA is very close – easy and cheap Many border crossings – easy illegal Wage Rates USA 8 times Mexico Attractive for USA employers; cheap labour ‘do jobs we don’t want’ Welfare system in USA Free, high-quality schooling Strong Hispanic community in USA already

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Effects? ON MEXICO: Less economically active… Less TNCs likely to set up in Mexico Ageing population left behind Less soil erosion and pressure Less unemployment Birth rate drops Migrants send $6billion home

Effects? ON USA: Overcrowding and ‘ghettos’; image of cities Pressure on schools, hospitals Increased cost for authorities – health care, policing etc. Cost for border control Source of cheap labour Bring new skills/ideas Become consumers; create new jobs Pay $31billion a year in taxes