IMMIGRATION FROM THE IMMIGRANT'S POINT OF VIEW

1. Primarily, only Mexicans from Northern Mexico migrate to the US. The rest of Mexico tends to migrate to Mexico City. The people that migrate to Mexico City are called “Paracaidistas” or “parachutists”, because if they land on your property and manage to build a dwelling there before you can get rid of them, they can claim permanent residence even though they don’t own the land beneath them. The swelling slums outside of Mexico City is testimony to this huge, unplanned migration that sorely lacks necessary infrastructure.
2. The reason for their migration, either to Mexico City or to the US, is universally for the betterment of one’s own life, and the possibility of helping out the rest of one’s family. This fact alone is hardly ever touched on in the main stream media in the US.
3. Mexicans, or better said almost any migrant person, move to the US in order to make more money, and using this new found wealth to help their family back home. Western Union has made a fortune by offering money transfer services of this kind.
4. Nearly every Mexican I met either here or in Mexico has told me that their first love is the country they were born and raised in, Mexico. They see their stay in the US as merely transitory until they get enough money to retire at home in their native country.
5. Believe it or not, the Mexicans living in Mexico actually resent those who have traveled to the US to live. The reason is actually quite simple. Those who move to the US are usually in their teens or early twenties. Their knowledge of the intricacies of the work place is quite limited. When these people return to Mexico, they use the same vocabulary they acquired in the US. Since these words are from the English language, Mexicans who have never visited the US assume that their brethren are deliberately using words unknown to them. There is a lot of friction in Mexico between those who have lived in the US, and those who have never seen it.
6. In the US, Mexicans have a huge chip on their shoulder. Any act by any American is looked upon with the criteria that, “The gringos hate me and exploit me. If this gringo asks me to do something, he will no doubt pay me below regular wages. I am being exploited by the powers that be here.”

Clearly, the Mexican immigrant to the US feels a constant threat from the government, society and life in general. They know that the “migra,” or ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, could deport them at any moment. They realize that their lack of knowledge of the English language is a great impairment for future growth and success. Their ignorance of Americans mores and customs is another great hindrance to their advancement in society. I remember in 1984, having just arrived back here from Mexico, I sent my Chilanga wife, or Mexico City-born wife, to the store to by a can of coke. She came back with a can of diet, decaffeinated coke. I immediately realized that there was much she needed to learn about the differences between Mexican life and American life.

But the undocumented worker has adapted quite well here in the US. They have managed to secure jobs making anywhere from five to fifty times what they would be paid in Mexico. Although they realize that they are being exploited here by US standards, they also realize that they have a greater opportunity here to create wealth they could later translate into an easier retirement back in Mexico. They also look at their life in the US as a chance to give their children the benefits of knowing the English language as well as Spanish. They know full well that the global business language is still English and the ability to speak it fluently enhances anyone’s chances around the world. As an example of this, I remember helping the company I worked, Clemex, for in Mexico prepare a proposal to another company in Mexico. The company I worked for was a French-Mexican, multi-national corporation providing metallurgical manufacturing for the petro-chemical industries. The proposal was actually written originally in French, and my company requested my services to translate it …………………………… into English, not Spanish. To give the proposal that air of international strength, they felt it prudent to translate from French into English, even though it was a Mexican company offering the proposal to another Mexican company.

The undocumented worker comes to the US not to invade, conquer and dominate, but rather to work peacefully within the confines of American rules and regulations and to enjoy a normal life while here. They fight hard to get every advantage they can for their children, and look to profit from every opportunity thrown their way. The undocumented worker here is industrious, hard-working, peaceable and quiet. They go to work on a regular basis, mind their own business, and create as few problems as possible. In fact, they better be this way, because any encounter with the law may end up in their deportation. The logic of this is overwhelming, yet Americans are completely blind to reality.

Let’s look at the jobs they usually perform here. The undocumented worker can be found by the millions on nearly every farm in America. From dairy to cotton, from lettuce to apples, the undocumented worker is paid a slave’s wage to pick the fruit, milk the cows, and harvest the crops of America. Produce prices in the US are among the lowest in the world, and a major reason for this is the fact that there is a giant pool of immigrant labor willing to work for slave wages. To stop this practice would be tantamount to increasing all agricultural products 10 times. On top of it, there would be a much smaller pool of American workers, even those on welfare and in the poor house, who would be willing to work such long and arduous hours of labor, even if the pay scale was compensatory. Here we see American economics at work in full force. We have a pool of workers willing to work at slave wages to bring the produce to market. As long as the US government ensures that Latin America stays poor, it ensures the continuous influx of these workers into the US to satisfy American needs. The realities of this are quite dramatic and merit a separate Toeg Effect Plus.

The undocumented worker can also be found by the millions in nearly every construction company in America. Their cheap labor allows construction companies to lower their costs tremendously, giving more Americans the chance to own a home, a home built by undocumented workers working at slave wages. Again, the hours are long and hard, and the pay minimal. Most Americans would never accept such arduous conditions of labor with few if any benefits. Were this pool of workers to cease to cross our borders, the cost of construction would increase ten fold and would bring the housing industry down to its knees.

The undocumented worker can also be found in millions of wealthy homes across America. The rich from Maine to California take full advantage of the undocumented worker. The pay is minimal, far below what any American would be willing to take, and the benefits are nonexistent, something NO American would accept. But the rich have access to this gigantic pool of undocumented workers from which to choose from, allowing them their nanny services, their chauffer services, and their butler services at a fraction of the cost other countries have to pay.

In reality, the draconian measures that the US government was considering back in 2006 were very similar to the measures Ronald Reagan implemented in 1986. They were geared to cease the immigration of undocumented workers solely on paper and were never meant to be actually implemented. The uprising of millions of people in the spring of 2006 demonstrated the fact that people had had enough of these unwarranted pressures by the government, and wanted fair and just legislation to be put forth. Taken completely by surprise, the government found itself doing a pirouette in mid-flight and decided to table this discussion for later.

The undocumented worker has become a vital and essential part of the American economy. Without them, our prices would soar instantly, driving inflation through the roof and bringing the economy to its knees. It’s then of little wonder why the US government has done absolutely nothing to stop them. In fact, the US government has done much to ensure that Latin American countries remain in poverty and near-destitution for it is these same people who will be needed in the US to perform the hardest of labors for slave wages. Certainly they realize that Americans would never perform the same jobs for the same wages and benefits. As long as the US can keep Latin

America in the poor house, it knows that the steady influx of cheap labor will reach our shores and fulfill our needs.

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