2009
When people discuss the immigration problem, they generally approach the argument in their own aspects and own benefits. I understand that, as a part of human manner, mankind tries to protect his own goods and benefits and unintentionally disregard other features of the issue that are relevant to others. Although this behavior may be accepted in minor issues, when it comes to more serious problems that effect not one individual but many others, there appears a need to think the issue from several aspects and come up with different solutions. In this paper, I will discuss the illegal immigration problem between the U.S. and Mexico while taking into account the relevant parties and recommend possible solutions for the topic with the help of Evren Çelik’s article named “Globalization and Mexico” and the movie named “Fast Food Nation” directed by Richard Linklater.
United States and Mexico are sharing a 2000 miles international border that is very frequently crossed by many Mexicans every year. There are approximately 10 million Mexicans living and working in the United States today (Çelik, p. 218). The question is, why do these people leave their homeland and choose to be illegal immigrants in another country? The money is the first answer here but aren’t there any other causes? To answer these questions, first there should be mentioned about two popular topics, capitalism and globalization, which brought many new production understandings to the world. In a simple manner, capitalism needs cheap labor for mass production and globalization helps it in some way. In brief, globalization facilitates not only integration of cultures and economies but also some kind of integration among people.
When we look at our Mexican immigrants’ case, it can be seen that capitalism and globalization didn’t work for the benefit of Mexico very well. The unequal distribution of wealth and lack of education -which are probably the results of the ongoing disorder and trouble in the country as consequences of military ruling and severe controversies between left and right ruling parties until 1990s- made Mexican people consider immigration as a natural process. Education is not the primary objective for many young Mexicans as they mostly see their future in immigrating to the U.S. They will be working in bad conditions in U.S. but how can they be accused since they will be earning much more than they earn in homeland? In “Fast Food Nation” there is this conversation between the character played by Bruce Willis and the fast food company manager: “He gets a job working for U.M.P. making $10 an hour. That's more money in one day than he makes back home in a whole month” he talks about the illegal workers. “Nobody is making these people come up here. Right? Nobody's telling them to come and work for U.M.P.”
On the other hand, American patriots are unhappy with this illegal immigration of foreigners. The cheap labor force of Mexicans and other foreigners made American people unemployed somehow. They see this as a disturbing competition since most of the immigrations are illegal and work for very low wages compared to Americans. But not all Americans are unhappy with this process. In contrast to American nationalists, many American factory owners and employers -particularly in agricultural, construction and meatpacking sectors- are reluctant to dismiss this cheap and mobile source of Mexican labor force (Çelik, p.218). Not only American business owners but also the Mexican state is quite happy with the current process as many Mexican immigrants send their earnings back to their families in homeland and this means the entrance of foreign exchange to Mexico. So the irregularity of immigration is swept under the rug for the benefit of both parties. To sum up, it is a discomfort for Americans as they see immigrants as “the others” and these immigrants work in very bad conditions for low wages and still keep migrating to U.S.
In this section, I will come up with possible short term and long term plans which will ensure a reduction in the number of Mexican immigrants in U.S. First of all, it should be understood that immigration is not a minor problem and cannot be solved in short term. There should be combination of short term plans and long term investments. One of the long term solutions -which can probably be thought of easily- is the potential U.S. investments in Mexico which are administrated by Mexicans but financed by Americans for some time. Those immigrating Mexicans, who are looking for a better future, should be convinced that their home country also have similar opportunities. The thing is there should be established a sense of belonging to their homeland. This can only be possible if there is order and progress in the country. Order is very much linked with the progress vice versa and these two factors can be achieved with strong education system. Many Mexicans see themselves as leaving the country one day and see less reason to invest in education. If they are assured that education is the way for richness and a better life, there would be less immigrant attempts. Who would leave a country that has order and progress and be a foreigner in another country?
In short term thinking, one can ask that how the number of immigrants can be decreased? An international border of 2000 miles cannot be controlled precisely. How about building a long wall in the border line that is preventing people pass the other side? No, that would be repulsive and provocative for both sides. Solutions should be deterrent but not insulting. As mentioned above, many U.S. employers are actors in illegal immigration. First they should be persuaded not to have those illegal workers but also some arrangements should be made that they will not be suffering economically. One possible solution is this: Factory owners, who register their foreign workers in the emigration offices, should be rewarded financially and be honored in public to be examples for other employers. There will be a sudden reduction in number of foreign workers but financially they will be supported and sooner or later they will find new labor either American or foreigner. My second suggestion is assuring immigrant workers to pay migration taxes. As the factory owners will be registering their immigrant workers, every foreign worker will be seen in the records and so avoiding these migration taxes will be tricky. These two possible short term moves may sound like a discrimination to get rid of immigrants but Mexico will be needing its manpower in its country for the progress after above-mentioned long-term investments. Besides registered workers will be having insurances which they did not have before.
In brief, to solve this illegal immigration problem, not only short term adjustments and long term investments but also time and patience are needed. All the relevant parties –illegal immigrants, American business owners, American workers and the two mentioned states- can benefit eventually if they follow and stick to the short and long term plans I have mentioned above. However, there is a big paradox that sounds quite discouraging. It is sure that U.S. needs cheap labor power in order to maintain the strength of its economy. But at the same time there is no room for illegal immigrants since culturally there is a discomfort in the society. So if they invest in Mexico, Mexico will improve economically and stand more on its own legs. Progress in Mexican economy will mean a decrease in U.S. export economy in the long run which also means that there will be no cheap labor from then on. Absence of cheap labor and an economically strong and independent neighbor are the least two things U.S. government will be looking for. To sum up, can we say that U.S. governments and relevant sectors are more likely to deal with people not the system since improving or converting the system is more difficult than aligning people?
When people discuss the immigration problem, they generally approach the argument in their own aspects and own benefits. I understand that, as a part of human manner, mankind tries to protect his own goods and benefits and unintentionally disregard other features of the issue that are relevant to others. Although this behavior may be accepted in minor issues, when it comes to more serious problems that effect not one individual but many others, there appears a need to think the issue from several aspects and come up with different solutions. In this paper, I will discuss the illegal immigration problem between the U.S. and Mexico while taking into account the relevant parties and recommend possible solutions for the topic with the help of Evren Çelik’s article named “Globalization and Mexico” and the movie named “Fast Food Nation” directed by Richard Linklater.
United States and Mexico are sharing a 2000 miles international border that is very frequently crossed by many Mexicans every year. There are approximately 10 million Mexicans living and working in the United States today (Çelik, p. 218). The question is, why do these people leave their homeland and choose to be illegal immigrants in another country? The money is the first answer here but aren’t there any other causes? To answer these questions, first there should be mentioned about two popular topics, capitalism and globalization, which brought many new production understandings to the world. In a simple manner, capitalism needs cheap labor for mass production and globalization helps it in some way. In brief, globalization facilitates not only integration of cultures and economies but also some kind of integration among people.
When we look at our Mexican immigrants’ case, it can be seen that capitalism and globalization didn’t work for the benefit of Mexico very well. The unequal distribution of wealth and lack of education -which are probably the results of the ongoing disorder and trouble in the country as consequences of military ruling and severe controversies between left and right ruling parties until 1990s- made Mexican people consider immigration as a natural process. Education is not the primary objective for many young Mexicans as they mostly see their future in immigrating to the U.S. They will be working in bad conditions in U.S. but how can they be accused since they will be earning much more than they earn in homeland? In “Fast Food Nation” there is this conversation between the character played by Bruce Willis and the fast food company manager: “He gets a job working for U.M.P. making $10 an hour. That's more money in one day than he makes back home in a whole month” he talks about the illegal workers. “Nobody is making these people come up here. Right? Nobody's telling them to come and work for U.M.P.”
On the other hand, American patriots are unhappy with this illegal immigration of foreigners. The cheap labor force of Mexicans and other foreigners made American people unemployed somehow. They see this as a disturbing competition since most of the immigrations are illegal and work for very low wages compared to Americans. But not all Americans are unhappy with this process. In contrast to American nationalists, many American factory owners and employers -particularly in agricultural, construction and meatpacking sectors- are reluctant to dismiss this cheap and mobile source of Mexican labor force (Çelik, p.218). Not only American business owners but also the Mexican state is quite happy with the current process as many Mexican immigrants send their earnings back to their families in homeland and this means the entrance of foreign exchange to Mexico. So the irregularity of immigration is swept under the rug for the benefit of both parties. To sum up, it is a discomfort for Americans as they see immigrants as “the others” and these immigrants work in very bad conditions for low wages and still keep migrating to U.S.
In this section, I will come up with possible short term and long term plans which will ensure a reduction in the number of Mexican immigrants in U.S. First of all, it should be understood that immigration is not a minor problem and cannot be solved in short term. There should be combination of short term plans and long term investments. One of the long term solutions -which can probably be thought of easily- is the potential U.S. investments in Mexico which are administrated by Mexicans but financed by Americans for some time. Those immigrating Mexicans, who are looking for a better future, should be convinced that their home country also have similar opportunities. The thing is there should be established a sense of belonging to their homeland. This can only be possible if there is order and progress in the country. Order is very much linked with the progress vice versa and these two factors can be achieved with strong education system. Many Mexicans see themselves as leaving the country one day and see less reason to invest in education. If they are assured that education is the way for richness and a better life, there would be less immigrant attempts. Who would leave a country that has order and progress and be a foreigner in another country?
In short term thinking, one can ask that how the number of immigrants can be decreased? An international border of 2000 miles cannot be controlled precisely. How about building a long wall in the border line that is preventing people pass the other side? No, that would be repulsive and provocative for both sides. Solutions should be deterrent but not insulting. As mentioned above, many U.S. employers are actors in illegal immigration. First they should be persuaded not to have those illegal workers but also some arrangements should be made that they will not be suffering economically. One possible solution is this: Factory owners, who register their foreign workers in the emigration offices, should be rewarded financially and be honored in public to be examples for other employers. There will be a sudden reduction in number of foreign workers but financially they will be supported and sooner or later they will find new labor either American or foreigner. My second suggestion is assuring immigrant workers to pay migration taxes. As the factory owners will be registering their immigrant workers, every foreign worker will be seen in the records and so avoiding these migration taxes will be tricky. These two possible short term moves may sound like a discrimination to get rid of immigrants but Mexico will be needing its manpower in its country for the progress after above-mentioned long-term investments. Besides registered workers will be having insurances which they did not have before.
In brief, to solve this illegal immigration problem, not only short term adjustments and long term investments but also time and patience are needed. All the relevant parties –illegal immigrants, American business owners, American workers and the two mentioned states- can benefit eventually if they follow and stick to the short and long term plans I have mentioned above. However, there is a big paradox that sounds quite discouraging. It is sure that U.S. needs cheap labor power in order to maintain the strength of its economy. But at the same time there is no room for illegal immigrants since culturally there is a discomfort in the society. So if they invest in Mexico, Mexico will improve economically and stand more on its own legs. Progress in Mexican economy will mean a decrease in U.S. export economy in the long run which also means that there will be no cheap labor from then on. Absence of cheap labor and an economically strong and independent neighbor are the least two things U.S. government will be looking for. To sum up, can we say that U.S. governments and relevant sectors are more likely to deal with people not the system since improving or converting the system is more difficult than aligning people?
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