Cheap immigrant labor, and the Tump administration on DACA
“The Mexican Diaspora in the United States” provides information that delves into the
migration of the Mexican population in the US during the 1980s to compare to 2012 and the
present day. Poverty and the lack of education creates a great disadvantage in finding work
opportunities or to continue to higher education. Of the Mexican diasporas who were in
professional or managerial occupations were at a rate well below the general U.S labor force.
Based on the article , the Mexican population creates a vast percentage of immigrants in the
United States. It is best to say that the United States takes advantage of the cheap and mass labor
that the Mexican community provides. Americans are willing to buy cheap labor but do not offer
any other compensation/benefits that a normal U.S citizen/green card holder would obtain.
Outside of the article, there are American contractors who pay for Mexican labor by having
buses picking them up at the border to work on American agriculture. Years ago when this
workforce began, American contractors would keep a percentage of the workers’ earnings.
Mexican workers begin working at a young age during their elementary school years, which
keeps them off track from having a proper education.
The DACA program allows for temporary relief of deportation . . .
Education and a proper work environment is a privilege that many United States citizens
take great advantage of which is seemed as the American Dream from the perspective of the
undocumented community. During the height of the Obama Administration, the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals Program also known as DACA offers work authorization for
undocumented youth. The DACA program allows for temporary relief of deportation, a social
security number, and work authorization that has to be renewed every two years. Personally, I
am a DACA recipient, and in my own experience it has allowed me to work, and obtain both a
driver’s license and bank account. However, this is only a temporary solution for the broken
system of the immigration crisis that has been happening for years. To be eligible for DACA, a
certain criteria has to be met such as no criminal record, continuing education, and a steep fee to
cover the cost of applying for the program which doesn’t include lawyer expenses. As of 2017,
the DACA Program was resicnded by the Trump administration in efforts to scare off the
undocumented community into deportation. Although no new applications are being accepted,
only renewals have been accepted. To this day, the debate of the DACA Program has escalated
to be determined by the Supreme Court, a decision is to be made before the end of June of this
year. This leaves uncertainty amongst DACA recipients, as the Trump administration has
challenged to take down the program and put a stop on immigration at the Mexico-US border. As
stated before, the DACA Program provides temporary relief for a small percentage of the
undocumeted population living in the United States. In order to provide proper relief for the
immigration crisis is to have a program that offers work authorization, tax contributions,
complete relief from deportation and eventually a pathway to U.S Citizenship.
Source: MPI RAD Diaspora Profile