Free Custom «Latino Studies» Essay Paper

Over the years, the US government has been debating about granting amnesty to the illegal immigrants living in the US. This is just because these immigrants provide cheaper labor in industries. In addition, most of them have lived in America for years and recognize America as their home. Thus, deporting them would be inhumane as it would leave them homeless. However, the large-scale immigration is causing changes in the social and political cultures of America. These migrations are dividing the American people into two distinct cultures with two languages.

• Economic Influence

The demography of the US will be the most affected aspect in America. This is because the massive number of illegal immigrants of Latinos and Spanish speaking people will continue to increase due to the high birth rate, leading to an increase in the number of Mexican voters in America. This number can easily alter the political direction of America (Huntington, 2004). On the negative side, the illegal immigrants never pay taxes, thus the government loses tremendously on revenue collected. In addition, the facilities and services the government can afford to offer are limited; therefore, the presence of illegal immigrants strains the country’s resources, which is bad economically. On the positive side, the immigrants offer the much-needed cheap labor in industries. This is good as it boosts the economy of the country.

• Political Influence

Today, both parties in Congress have been fighting to win over these Latinos votes. The fact remains that, although America is a multicultural state where various ethnic groups are striving to gain political influence, the large number of Mexicans in America could easily win. This fact is further emphasized by the fact that no other ethnic group in America has claimed some states as theirs. In this case, Mexicans claim that California, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona rightfully belong to them. This could pose a great problem to Native Americans in the future. Despite all these, it is undoubted that the Mexican culture and language has become deeply rooted in America. (Huntington, 2004)

How US involvement has shaped migration from these countries?

Many people migrate into America in search of the American dream. People in search of greener pastures migrate from their homes to seek better life opportunities in America. The Mexicans and Spanish-speaking people are no different. These people move to America seeking better quality of education and better jobs (Vargas, 1999). However, not all of them experience the American dream.

According to the international labor organization, the Mexican American community in America in 2010 was 31,798,258. For instance, Mexican Americans migrate to the USA in search of job opportunities. The jobs require high eligibility for one to be employed; due to this, most of the American Mexicans end up lacking jobs to get them a salary. Therefore, they turn to crime to sustain themselves financially. Most of them end up in jail due to this, and estimates show that Mexicans are 3.3 times more likely to be in prison than the whites in America.

Estimates also indicate that they are likely to be in jail for either murder or felony drug crimes. According Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Mexican people in prison with an average age of 39 in the year 2011 in October was 40,210. The population constituted 18 percent of the total inmates. As time goes on, more and more Latinos continue to migrate into America. This is because they are convinced that it is the land of opportunities and their lives will improve if they live there. Thus, every year, thousands of Latinos and Spanish peaking people migrate into the United States, either legally or illegally in search of better life opportunities. This numbers are not likely to reduce any time soon, this is because, as the world population is increasing, everyone is striving to attain the best opportunities available in the world at all costs (Vargas, 1999).