Mexican Immigration to the United States

Introduction 

The influx of Mexican immigrants coming into the United States, both legally and illegally, has become a critical political issue that has raised intense debates not only within the United States but also in Mexico. President Donald Trump has been on the forefront in highlighting that the immigration of Mexican into the United States is not only posing a political dilemma but is also posing a severe economic challenge (Chalfin, 2015). The problem can be seen from the fact that a majority of industries are opting to employ Mexican workers attributed to the fact that they are not expected to pay the minimum wage. From that perspective, the real wages for the Americans have been on a steady decline, especially in some of the states that are on the United States-Mexico border. That creates the need for having to provide relevant recommendations on how to deal with this issue amicably.

Issue of Mexican Immigration 

Since the 1980s, the influx of Mexicans coming into the United States has been on a steady increase leading to a situation where Mexicans are considered as the largest group of foreign-born residents living within the United States. According to census data released in 2016, the total number of foreign-born residents in the country was 43.7 million, out of which 11.6 million, which accounts for 26.5%, are Mexicans (Alarcón, 2017). The number is expected to double by 2025 if urgent steps are not taken in seeking to curb the rising number of persons going through the porous border from Mexico into the United States. That serves as a clear indication of the fact that the issue of immigration is fast becoming a significant challenge that the United States ought to deal with as a way of protecting the integrity that the county holds concerning its international standing.

American natives have been on the forefront in opposing the entry of Mexican immigrants into the United States on the basis that this exposes the country to severe security threats. For example, the influx of Mexicans serves as a critical factor contributing to a flow in crime, drug trafficking, and gang violence, which are rampant in Mexico. Currently, the most significant criminal gang in the United States, Latin Kings, is comprised of Mexican immigrants; thus, highlighting the security challenges that this is posing on the country (Gulbas & Zayas, 2017). It has been argued that inability for the federal government to take up critical approaches to dealing with the situation may result in a situation where the number of Mexican immigrants would be uncontrollable while in the United States.

From an economic perspective, the influx in Mexican immigrants has been noted as a vital issue of concern affecting the United States, especially from the perspective of employment. One of the critical reasons pushing a significant number of Mexicans towards coming into the United States is lack of jobs back in Mexico. Most of the immigrants often believe that their move into the United States would provide them with an opportunity for employment. Most of these immigrants end up working in industries within the United States at wages that are way below the set minimum wage (Bustamante, 2016). From this point of view, it is clear that the majority of the employers, especially in the border states, prefer employing Mexican immigrants attributed to the overall ability to save cost on labour. For the Americans, this is considered as having a severe economic implication, as it is contributing to a reduction in opportunities for Americans that are expected to work within the set labour laws.

President Trump has been at the forefront in taking up proactive measures as a way of dealing with the issue of Mexican immigrants coming into the United States. An example of an approach that the president has taken is the construction of the border wall, which is expected to serve as a critical approach through which to ensure Mexicans are not able to cross into the United States. However, the wall has not had much success towards reducing the number of Mexican immigrants coming into the United States illegally. That has created the need for having to focus on an alternative approach through which to ensure that the federal government can maximize on its capacities towards dealing with the issue of immigration in a manner that is is both legal and ethical.

Recommendation to the Issue 

Based on the nature of the issue affecting the United States, one of the critical recommendations towards dealing with the problem effectively revolves improving the country's foreign policy to focus more on Mexico as one of its key partners. By focusing on Mexico, the United States would be in a somewhat dominant position through which to ensure that it works in collaboration with the Mexican government to ensure that the number of persons crossing into the United States illegally is reduced significantly (Rodríguez & Hagan, 2016). That would mean that the United States may need to hold consultative meetings with Mexico in a bid to understanding the problem from their perspective as a way of finding a viable solution.

The foreign policy may also seek to ease the process of vetting immigrants from Mexico as one of the ways through which to ensure that a majority of these immigrants would use the legal procedures to come into the country. By easing on this process, the focus for the United States will be to encourage both skilled and unskilled workers to make relevant applications for their entry into the United States. The impact that this is likely to have is that it will help in minimizing the need for immigrants having to use illegal means to reaching the United States. Additionally, this will also help in ensuring that the United States government is well-positioned towards improving the situation for the legal Mexican immigrants as one of the key ways through which to minimize the competition between Mexican and American workers.

Conclusion 

One of the critical political issues that the United States is currently facing revolves around an influx in the number of Mexican immigrants coming into the country, both legally and illegally. Although the United States federal government has put in place several key measures to prevent illegal entry including the construction of the border wall, they have not had any success in reducing the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country. From this perspective, one of the key recommendations given to help in dealing with the issue is improving the country’s foreign policy to focus more on Mexico as one of its key partners. The United States may need to ease the process of vetting for Mexicans as one of the approaches to help encourage more of the skilled and unskilled workers to use legal means to gain entry into the United States.

References

Alarcón, R. (2017). US Immigration policy and the mobility of Mexicans (1882-2005). Migraciones Internacionales ,  6 (20), 185-218.

Bustamante, J. A. (2016). Mexican immigration to the United States and the vulnerability of migrants and their circularity. In  Impact of Circular Migration on Human, Political and Civil Rights  (pp. 63-84). Springer, Cham.

Chalfin, A. (2015). The long-run effect of Mexican immigration on crime in us cities: Evidence from variation in Mexican fertility rates.  American Economic Review ,  105 (5), 220-25.

Gulbas, L. E., & Zayas, L. H. (2017). Exploring the effects of US immigration enforcement on the well-being of citizen children in Mexican immigrant families.  RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences ,  3 (4), 53-69.

Rodríguez, N. P., & Hagan, J. (2016). The US polices to restrict immigration. In Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession  (pp. 27-38). Springer, Cham.