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102 Mexicanos in Oregon Chapter 3 Unintended Consequences: Mexican Immigration to Oregon after 1986 Immigration Reform and NAFTA1 There is a great deal of misunderstanding regarding the contemporary phenomenon of immigration. We believe that, in order to understand why the numbers of mexicano immigrants to Oregon increased dramatically between 1990 and 2007, it is essential to understand the larger forces that have created an undocumented international labor force that finds its way not only to Oregon but across the entire globe. Hence, much of the discussion in this chapter pertains to the broader national scene rather than to Oregon, and an understanding of this broader picture will create a greater appreciation of the local situation. By the 1980s Mexican immigration to the United States had become a systematic, circular phenomenon that met the needs of all involved. This migration initially came “from a small subset of communities in seven or eight Mexican states” (Cornelius 1992). It developed in response to global macro-economic forces that changed the American labor market, and simultaneously shaped life in Mexican villages. Meanwhile, social and economic micro forces affected people’s decisions at the personal or familial level. Mexico’s inability to provide sufficient jobs to accommodate the size of its work force; the demand for cheap labor in the United States; a legacy of migration engendered by the bi-national labor agreement signed by Mexico and the United States during World War II; vigorous labor-recruitment practices by U.S. agricultural interests; the desire of Mexican families to enhance their life chances—all were compelling factors that spurred migration from Mexico to the United States. While some families did make the journey north, it was primarily young and single males, “the sons and brothers of former braceros who were able to garner sponsorship through family connections” (Cerruti and Massey 2004), who journeyed to el norte. Their willingness to risk travel to a foreign land—whose language they did not speak, whose customs were inaccessible, and which long had exhibited a hostile attitude toward their kind—guaranteed U.S. employers, particularly in agriculture, a seasonal labor force. Mexican workers, on the other hand, were able to divide their time between earning money in the United States and spending time with their families during the off season. 103 THEIR STORIES, THEIR LIVES Mexican Immigration to Oregon after 1986 Immigration Reform and NAFTA The social networks that evolved during many decades of migration provided migrants with crucial information, material and emotional support, job references, temporary lodging, and warnings regarding potential pitfalls. These networks facilitated migration and decreased its attendant risks (Portes and Rumbaut 1996; Massey 1990; Chávez 1992a). When workers returned home between jobs, they could make their earnings work for them by investing in small family-operated businesses, or by buying equipment and fertilizers for their land; or they could apply them to more personal enterprises such as adding a second story to their home, or begin a courtship that would eventually allow them to start a family in their home villages. Jesús shared with us the goal that motivated him to come to the United States at the age of seventeen: “What always passed through my mind was that I would come here to study and like everyone else make loads of money in a short while. I wanted to study and learn English so I could get a good job. And another thing that I wanted to do was buy my father a pickup. That was an idea I always had. It was what motivated me to work.” Because Jesús was young and he was still not responsible for a family of his own, his motives were tied to a need for recognition and the desire to enhance his self-esteem: “The first thing I did with the money I earned was buy a truck for my father and when I returned in 1994 I took it to him. I had a lot of plans: study, work, and make money. And be someone. I wanted my parents to be proud of me as they were of my brother” (interview with S.J. Acosta, 2003). Circular migration, which kept workers connected to their hometowns in Mexico and discouraged them from settling in the United States, had its own logic: it was regular, systematic, and predictable; in short, it functioned like a well-oiled machine (Massey et al. 2002). Isías lived in a small rancho in Guanajato when he started coming to...

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