Mexican Migration: Migration of People is an Age-old Phenomenon

Mexican Migration
Carolyn Nguyen
Excelsior College
Mexican Migration
Introduction
Migration of people is an age-old phenomenon. It has been part and parcel of human existence, and has played a huge part in the sociopolitical and socioeconomic order that has shaped the present. There are numerous reasons that immigrants might cite as the driving force behind numerous instances of migration. One of the present largest human migrations involves the movement of Mexicans from their home country, North into the United States. There are a number of push and pull factors that facilitate such migration (Jackson, n.d.).Among the push factors include the high rates of crime within the Mexican borders, which are usually contributed to a large extent by drugs. There is also a high rate of unemployment in Mexico, which forces them to move northwards, seeking for opportunities. Among the pull factors include the better living standards in the United States than in Mexico, a large Mexican community in the United States which makes it easier for these migrants to easily fit in (Jackson, n.d.).With the migration come numerous impacts, both positive and negative, to either side of the divide. The Mexican immigration has more advantages than the disadvantages to the American economy, they include, provision of cheap labor, introduction of new skills and competencies to the U.S and cultural benefits to the local communities in the United States.
Mexican Migration Intensity
Researchers from the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that there are 11 million undocumented individuals in the United States (Bacallao & Smokowski, 2007). This represented a 30% increases from the 8.4 million in the year 2000. Six million of these undocumented immigrants are Mexicans. The researchers further estimated that 1.7 million people of these population are younger than 18 years (Bacallao & Smokowski, 2007). They mainly move into the southern states of the United States, which are in close proximity to the Mexican border. In order for them to get into the United States, these Mexicans have to go through the border between their country and the United States. This is usually a long stretch of land striding a total of ten states shared between Mexico and the United States
Positives
Economy
The first benefit brought by the Mexican migration is that it results to the introduction of new skills and competences to the United States. One of the reasons for the migration of Mexicans to the United States is in search of opportunities and better living conditions than in their native nation. These individuals are usually qualified in various fields, and when they migrate to the United States, they bring their expertise with them (Diaz & Albo, 2013). Green stone and Looney report (2010), indicates that more than 11% of foreign-born workers in the United States have advanced degrees, a fraction which is slightly above the percentage of Americans with post-college degrees. More importantly, more than 1.9 % of the immigrants have PhDs as compared to the U.S born citizens with the PhDs at 1.1%. With such differentials in the education levels between the immigrants and the natives it’s no doubt about their contribution to economy especially in ...