Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Samantha Gonzalez
GNED 1300-09
Dra. Blanco-Cano
October 5, 2009
Durand, Jorge, and Douglas S. Masey. Crossing the border research from the Mexican
In Crossing the border, the editors Jorge Durand and Douglas Masey try to clarify the
many misconceptions there are when referring to the topic of Mexican immigration into
the United States. By using statistics from the Mexican Migration Project, which is the
largest and most reliable database for Mexican immigration data, both editors try to
answer vital questions when researching this topic. Main questions that are pointed out
are “who are these people?” and “why do they come here?” Both editors try to eliminate
the myth that when coming to the U.S. all immigrants are impoverished and destitute,
when the reality is that the immigrants come because of the higher wages provided in
America that would help them to finance their homes back in Mexico. Durand and Masey
also try to convince the audience that stricter border enforcement is not the permanent
solution for the immigration flow into the United States but leaves immigrants with the
Hellman, Judith Adler. World of Mexican migrants the rock and the hard place. New York:
Judith Hellman’s The World of Mexican Migrants offers a more insightful view of the
many Mexican immigrants in the U.S. Instead of statistical data and numbers, Hellman
focuses on the emotions and more detailed points of view from these immigrants. She
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also explains the many complicated factors that influence the decisions of the
immigrants’ of either staying in the United States or going back to Mexico. Such factors
for the immigrants include having children born in the U.S. that wish to remain there or
the harsh realities of city life that could include a low standard of living. In conclusion, it
is shown that most of Hellman’s immigrant research participants only wish to make
Zuniga, Victor, and Ruben Hernandez-Leon. New destinations Mexican immigration in the
In New Destinations, the main emphasis presented by Zuniga and Hernandez is that
Mexican immigration is not just confined to border regions of the U.S. but has expanded
to areas where there had been no previous exposure to the Mexican culture. And due to
this phenomenon, these areas have been subject to be reshaped by what the Mexican
immigrants culturally have to offer. The book covers areas such as the Midwest,
Northeast, and deep south that have been the more recent for immigration settlement.