Not nearly as hot a topic as it used to be due to the impending threat of recessionary fears; illegal immigration is still of prime importance and one close to the hearts of many U.S. citizens, especially those close to the border. Who are these people coming to the U.S. illegally? Why are they coming here? Where are they coming from? If I were to ask myself these questions just a few months ago my answer would be that they were people from Mexico coming to escape their poverty-stricken nation. Now that I’ve been to Mexico on a foreign-exchange trip my answer is quite a bit different. Not so much with who is coming, but more along the lines of WHY they are coming. Why are these people coming, if not to escape poverty and to find a better life?
“Better” is Relative
It is true that these “aliens” are coming to find a better life. It is not necessarily poverty that ailed them in their homeland though. True they were poor by our definition of the word, but a closer examination must be made to realize the exact reason for their departure. Although many of these people were quite possibly poorer than we can imagine they were still able to survive. It is not the poverty that hurt them the most, but the social system that prevails so strongly in Mexico. I do not mean to judge, and I do not mean to offend with any of the following comments. I just want to point out what I’ve learned and hopefully teach others why things are how they are.
A Little Bit of Background Information
Just as the United States’ culture can often divide people into classes based upon their race and wealth as well, Mexico has a culture that divides by social classes and standings. It has been this way since the formation of Mexico as a nation. When the Spaniards came to Mexico they made themselves rulers over the natives. Over time some of them bred with the natives creating what we know today as the Mexican people while some chose not to breed with the natives and to maintain a ‘pure’ blood. This began the class system in Mexico, which is still functional today. The native Spaniards were the highest class, the Spaniards born in Mexico just underneath, the mixed breed (Mexicans) just underneath them and finally the natives (or Indians) were at the bottom of this ‘totem-pole.’ With these classes also came the distinction between what each class is able to do. The pure blood Spaniards were the only ones allowed to hold any government or religious positions – the highest positions one could have in Mexico. The mixed blood Mexicans were the merchants and other various “middle-class” workers, while the natives were the lowest class and used mostly as peasants and for near-slave labor and wages.
A Primary Reason For Illegal Immigration From Mexico
These class distinctions still exist today, in various degrees. Those in the lowest class and of little to no Spanish blood are almost never found in high positions and seem doomed to live in poverty and filth. With these strong social classes in place it would be almost impossible for someone at the bottom level of this ‘totem pole’ to ascend to the highest heights. These are people who know that nothing will ever change, unless they make it change. To them, their only hope for change resides with us here in the United States. They know that it is not so much class as it is hard-work and determination that either holds you down or propels you forward here. And so they come.
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