Cheyenne Trujillo

5/7/14
Professor Hansen
ENGL102-074
SWA4
Not all Mexicans are Illegal
Is America still discriminating? Do we still value the ideals of equal opportunity? Many
immigrants come to America for different reasons but the main one is equal opportunities like
jobs, education, and healthcare. Recently there has been an argument about if immigrants should
be allowed in the United States? The main focus is on Mexicans, Latinos and Chicanos who have
faced harder times in America due to the fact of illegal immigrants from Mexico. This issue
needs to be addressed to bring awareness to people about how our society treats all Mexicans as
if we are illegal based on color and background. This also effects whether or not we will allow
immigrants to stay in America and shows that racism is still apart of America. Like any good
argument there are two sides in this matter one is that illegal immigrants affect America
negatively and give bad stigmas to native born Mexican citizens and the other is that illegal
immigrants are not the problem but CEOs are and that this stigma has been around for years.
The one that I believe is correct is that immigrants are not the problem but CEOs are and that
stigmas have been around for years this will be proved as we examine problems within the
economy and how CEOs are the root of this problem, then how CEOs are the reason for more
immigrants coming to American and lastly how stigmas have been associated with Mexican
Americans since the Chicano Movement.
The opposing view of this topic is that illegal Mexican immigrants should not be allowed
because they can harm the society as well as Mexican Americans who are citizens. This view
also goes with the thought that illegal immigrates give a bad stigma to the Mexican American
community. New Mexico, Arizona, California and Texas are the states with the biggest
immigration problems. New Mexico is currently dealing with the issue of driver licenses being
valid as proof of citizenship because of how illegal immigrates can get a New Mexico driver
licenses easily. New Mexico has one of the largest Hispanic Populations in the United States.
According to the New Mexico Demographic, New Mexico has a Hispanic population of 953,403,
which is 46.3% of the state (New Mexico Demographic, 2013). This is a very high percentage;
this is why New Mexico is a minority state. Many believe the cause of this growth in population
has to do with illegal Immigrates. This leads to Latinos being the most negatively thought of
immigrants. Roberto Suro claims that No immigrant group has carried the stigma of illegality
like Latinos (156).
According to Kirkorian, immigrates are taking jobs, welfare, healthcare and
opportunities from Mexican Americans that are citizens. They also give a bad reputation to
Mexican Americans. (195). Immigrants are getting jobs even when we have Americans who
are unemployed in the United States. Welfare has been giving money to the poor and the welfare
has been losing a lot of money since immigration has been a problem. We having to cover for
illegal immigrates even in healthcare because they dont have the money or insurance to cover
the expenses to see a doctor or get prescriptions. Illegal Immigrates are the reason why the
healthcare expenditure has been growing over the years. Although these are problems there are
some points these views can explain or have been proven wrong.
These views are backed up by sociologist but some of these views have problems and
can be proven wrong. Dealing with the first issue, the reason why we have had this illegality
stigma may be due to the fact of stereotypes. Stereotypes have been around for years and they are
how people start associating things, objects and ideas with a person based on race, sexual
orientation or even hair color. People see a Mexican American who may not speak very well
English so they assume that person is an illegal not that they are citizens who are still learning
our ways. Second, illegals are getting jobs that many Americans dont want and they get paid
horrible because the employer knows they are illegal. Which leads to the third, many illegal
immigrates cant get welfare without a social security number which is hard to get and be able to
use. Then you have illegal immigrates who are getting paid lower than average so they take on
more jobs just to support a family. The fourth and last is healthcare. If Illegal Immigrates got
paid better and employers didnt take advantage of them then they wouldnt always be getting
sick which means they wouldnt be need medical coverage as much. The reason one can connect
better pay with health is for the fact that with more many they could get out of bad conditions
they may live in, be able to get a better healthcare and even be able to start getting citizenship.
These are limitations to this belief that illegal immigrates are taking from the Mexican American
citizens.
My belief is that immigration should be handled but that it in no way is affecting the
citizens who are Mexican American because we have always been seen as low and treated unfair
being the minority. Mexican Americans have always been judged and looked down at thats why
we had the Chicano Movement to create change and get equal treatment. This obviously was
accomplished but to an extent, we have equal pay but what is equal pay now a days? We were
seen as citizens but we are not seen as equal citizens. Mexican American has been having
problems in society when it comes to welfare, healthcare, jobs and education. Education is a
point that is addressed by Mark Kirkorian, although welfare is mostly consumed by Mexicans it
is due to the fact that they dont have jobs that pay enough to support a family. They have low
paying jobs because they either didnt finish high school or didnt go to college and finish. When
there is no higher education people have to work in low paying jobs because they cant get better
jobs. This is a cycle repeated a lot in America today and more so in the Mexican community, by
increasing education rates of Mexicans, Latinos, and Chicanos they can start moving up as a race
(197).
Mexican Americans are seen as being the lower race in America because we dont have a lot of
Mexicans who get pass high school or even go to college and graduate. According to Kirkorian,
Mexicans- the largest and least educated immigrant group- are also the poorest (197). This all
shows how Mexican Americans, Latinos, and Chicanos are thought of and how and why people
look at us differently. Along with the stigma of being less educated and the poorest there are
other facts that show how society treats native born compare to Immigrates. This is proven
with the knowledge shared from Mark Kirkorian, we have immigrants that get a college degree
and with that degree they make about three thousand less then what native born mexicans
make with a college degree. This stigma is more than just thoughts and ideals its also
affecting Mexicans from ever making something more of them.
This though is not just a part of the stigma this is discrimination to all Mexicans.
Employers are the ones who have the choice of how much each person can make and how many
hours they can work. Why is native born making almost the same as immigrants? (204).
Stigmas have always been there on Mexican Americans but this can be changed by the
community if they improve as a whole and start changing this stigmas themselves. Immigrants
may be changing society but there is a bigger factor at work that is affecting the nation and
contribution to the problems with immigration, this is corporations and employers.
Corporations and employers are a factor that everyone needs to know about. Immigration
is a problem but we need to start changing the economy and society first before we can fix this
immigration problem. CEOs are a part of the top ten percent of the rich in America yet they
cant give better wages to the workers in their companies. These CEOs companies pay little
which is how our economy gets affected. When people have low wages and cant support a
family they are more likely to go on welfare, which is money from the government causing a
bigger debt for the nation. This can be fixed if states were to raise the minimum wage and force
companies to pay more which means CEOs make less and there is more money circulating in
the nation as well as lower debt. The problem with this is that states arent going to raise
minimum wage and then there are immigrants that do just as good of work as other people but
dont have to get paid as much. This problem should have been resolved a long time ago with the
law of no company hiring illegal immigrants but companies are still doing it because there hasnt
been a big enforcement upon this issue. CEOs and companies need to start giving back to the
nation and give jobs to unemployed Americans not illegal immigrants. The other problem is
employers and how they have stopped giving people employer sponsored healthcare insurance.
My belief can be justified just like the opposing view but there are still questions that
cant be covered by my point of view and supported. This questions that cant be covered by my
view are my views limitations. Like how much in welfare is being taken by immigrates? What is
going on with immigrates getting a better option of education than native born Mexicans? Is
native born Mexican being taken advantage of in the workforce because employers believe that
all Mexicans are illegal? How many companies are still hiring illegal immigrants? Why is law
enforcement not cracking down on these companies? How can we make CEOs contribute to
our failing economy and bring their wages higher? These are problems that cant be answered
and can change someones point of view on ideas.
There is a problem with immigration in America but are immigrants taking advantage of
our systems or is it our society taking advantage of immigrants? Based on the facts I have shown,
the conclusion could be made that corporations and employers are taking advantages of
immigrants in order to get labor done with cheap pay, even though they are breaking a law. This
is viewed differently and can be explains and proven both ways. Healthcare is how employers
have decreased insurance because they have only been hiring part time people which they dont
have to give insurance to. Then there is the fact that if corporations would raise minimum wage
that maybe immigration would decrease because Americans would be taking this jobs. Yes there
are two sides to an argument but there are also limitations to both of these views, which is why
everyone picks their own side. So choose for yourself based on the facts presented here in the
essay.












Reference Page
Krikorian, Mark. The new case against immigration: both legal and illegal. New York: Sentinel,
2008. Print.
Suro, Robert. Strangers among us: Latino lives in a changing America
New York: Vintage Books, 1999. Print
Vigil, James Diego. From Indians to Chicanos: The Dynamics of Mexican-
American Culture. Waveland Pr.Inc, November 8, 2011. Print.