The Land of Opportunity

The Land of Opportunity

Even though life is more comfortable in each country than it was in the past, the United States is still labeled as "The Land of Opportunity" and therefore, many people immigrant to the United States. Migration is defined as a permanent change in residence, but there are two types of migration: emigration and immigration. Emigration is when one moves out of the area they are currently living at, while immigration is when one moves into a new area. According to the book:

The social impact of immigration to the United States is felt throughout Mexico...the earliest emigrants were typically married men of working age from the middle of the stratification system. They had sufficient financial resources to afford the costs and risks of immigration, yet were experiencing enough financial strain that entering the United States was attractive to them. (Witt 278)

This shows how desperate some countries are for employment opportunities and possibly for a better education. The book discusses this issue further under Mexico's Economy paragraph; it expands this issue by stating:

If we compare Mexico's economy to that of the United States, differences in the standard of living and in life chances are quite dramatic, even though Mexico is considered a semiperiphery nation. Gross national income is a commonly used measure of an average resident's economic well-being. In 2008, the gross national income per person in United States came to $47,930; in Mexico, it was mere $9990. About 36 percent of adults in the United States have a bachelor's degree, compared to only 18 percent of those in Mexico. (Witt 275)

The above statement explains why United States has many people emigrating from Mexico due to economy and education problems. However, immigration to United States is not easy for everyone. In order to accomplish the "American Dream" for themselves and their families, many of these immigrants have no choice but to leave their families behind.

Now, to tie what the book has to say about immigration to the United States from Mexico, I will talk about Maria Dolores who is the lady that cleans my house every other week and has emigrated from Mexico about 8 years ago. One day Maria was sharing her life story with me about how she immigrated to the United States, she mentioned her four children to me that I never knew existed. Her children-two sons and two daughters- are living with their grandparents in Mexico. Maria's husband supported the family with the little money that he made from his nursing occupation, but when he passed away about 10 years ago, Maria faced many financial difficulties. She worked hard but did not earn enough to feed four children. It saddened me when she explained to me that many nights her children went to bed without dinner. She would put them to sleep with advice on how to quell their hunger pangs. This made her emigrate from Mexico and immigrate into United States as a single mother to work and make a better life for herself and her four children that she left behind. She immigrated into United States in hopes of providing her children an escape from their grinding poverty, a chance to attend school and get a higher education. My parents pay Maria $200 dollar in one week that she works and she told me this is enough for her to send her children clothes and money. According to the book:

Many Mexicans who have come to the United States send a portion of their earning back across the border to family members in Mexico. This substantial flow of money, referred to as remittances (or remesas), amounted to $22 billion in 2009. It is second only to oil as a source of foreign revenue for Mexico. After years of growth, remittances sent to Mexico fell 3.6 percent in 2008, due to the economic downturn