Mexic an Immigration

1. Mexican Immigration

2. Reasons for Mexican Immigration • Between 1850 and 1880, 55,000 Mexican workers immigrated to the United States to become field hands in regions that had, until very recently, belonged to Mexico • commercial agriculture, the mining industry, light industry and the railroad • working conditions and salaries of the Mexicans were poor • 1883- Chinese Exclusion Act, railroad companies search for alternative sources of cheap labor • Mexican workers are increasingly recruited • 60% of railway working crews Mexican • 1910- Mexican Revolution • Thousands of Mexicans flee across the border for safety

3. Reasons for Mexican Immigration • 1917- World War I • U.S. labor force was overseas fighting the war • 1924- Largely due to a lack of immigration quotas, more than 89,000 Mexicans came into the United States on permanent visas, making 1924 the peak year for Mexican immigration. • World War II • 1942- The Bracero program begins, allowing Mexican nationals to temporarily work in the United States – primarily in the agricultural industry. • 4 million Mexican farm workers came to work the fields of the United States