TRANSNATIONAL URBAN LATINIZATION

LATINA/O WORKERS AND GLOBAL CIRCUITS

BY A.M.

The area known today as the US-Mexico border is a region which fuels a lot of dispute in the political world, especially when talking about transnational urban Latinization. Surges in migration between the United States and Mexico brings work opportunities for many immigrants in the country. However, many of these migrants face the issues of being labeled as “illegal”, and being subjected to deliberate forms of racism and class domination (Schmidt, 2). The lack of rights for Latina/o workers in the US has caused many migrants to seek incorporation in their places of work, and build a platform of what they can do to benefit themselves, the working force, and their countries of origin. Certain policies in the United States advocate against all migrants from Mexico, whether they are legal or not, and their working in the United States to gain money for their own country. However, the opposite is believed by migrants, who instead view this as their way of aiding those less fortunate in their home country. This is a form of modern day transnationalism, which leads to the question of what exactly transnationalism is, and why it would be beneficial to grant privileges and mobility to all Latina/o workers in the contemporary era?

The text, Migrant Imaginaries: Latino Cultural Politics in the U.S.- Mexico Borderlands, reinforces the positive side of granting mobility to Latina/o workers. Before addressing the question proposed in the previous paragraph, the process of transnationalism must be addressed. According to the text “transnationalism refers to the space in which distinct national localities are linked together by migratory flows, and the diaspora formed by this migration” (Schmidt, 5). Essentially, people migrate between borders with the intent to work and, in many cases, still support their country of origin from afar. Transnationalism is not a new theory created for the contemporary era, it in fact has been applied at an earlier time. According to the article, Transnational Migrants: When “Home” Means More Than One Country, European immigrants were known to remain active in prominent forms of political and economic affairs in their countries of origin, while still located in America in the 1900s. At first glance this process seems to only benefit the foreign countries, such as Mexico, and not the country that the work is being performed in, the United States. However, this could possibly bring not only revenue into the United States, but cultural affinity and political ease between nations.

As stated earlier, there have been migrant accounts of being mistreated on behalf of them being immigrants. It is not possible to track the location of every person who has migrated into the United States from Mexico, so there is still an issue of whether migrants to the United States are in fact “legal” or not. This sense of not knowing has been the fuel for the “historical racialization of Mexican [migrant workers]”, who sought naturalization but were deemed ineligible (Schmidt, 9). The text describes the issue of certain United States politicians believing that Mexican workers pose a threat to national unity, on the basis of differences in language, culture, and ethnicity (Schmidt, 10), not to mention whether they are American or not. From and alternate perspective, it can be argued by some that Mexican Americans only serve as a forced “transborder laboring class” (Schmidt, 9), but if given the opportunity sans the stigma, they can evolve into a social movement focused on the liberation of political issues across borders. Such issues include the relationship between migrants and the Mexican government, as well as the Mexican government and their demands for the United States. By allowing free movement, along with the working opportunity, the process of migrants aiding their town/ country of origin will thereby relieve monetary stress off of those areas; overtime evolving into the relief of stress between the countries themselves.

Sources

R., Schmidt Camacho Alicia. "Introduction." Introduction. Migrant Imaginaries: Latino Cultural Politics in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. New York: New York UP, 2008. 1-17. Print.

Levitt, Peggy. "Transnational Migrants: When "Home" Means More Than One Country." Migrationpolicy.org. N.p., 01 Oct. 2004. Web. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/transnational-migrants-when-home-means-more-one-country>.