In Rachel St. John’s book, “Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border,” the author offers up “a history of how and why the border changed” (St. John 1). This is her central thesis that she presents, providing evidence and historical context concerning the border and its changes over the course of the late 1800s to the mid-1900s. In seven chapters plus and introduction providing more general information and a conclusion that brings the U.S.-Mexico border situation into the present day, Rachel St. John’s focus is both periodical and geographical. St. John moves across both space and time in her book, looking at how region and era affected the border situation and how these effects differed in significance. St. John takes
week’s lesson we read, “Unearthing the Hidden Histories of a Borderlands Rebellion”, an essay by Benjamin Johnson. This essay starts off by describing the Plan of San Diego revolt that started in the summer of 1915. The plan was modeled to create a “liberating army of all races”, to create an “army” of Mexicans, Blacks, and Indians to in order to kill all white males. The Plan of San Diego revolt also called for this army to coup the United States government in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and California. Johnson believes that the coming of the railroad in 1904 was the critical local event that started this plan.
It all starts with the United States passing the Immigration Act of 1907, which was a law that “required all immigrants entering the United States to pass through an official port of entry, submit themselves to inspection, and receive official authorization to legally enter the United States” (Hernandez pg 1). The United States quickly became a nation severely divided over the issues of illegal immigration. In May of 1924 the border patrol was created to enforce immigration laws and restrictions by preventing illegal border crossings and policing the borderland regions. Despite many possible subjects or ‘suspects’ of illegal immigration, such as Asians, Europeans, and prostitutes, the U.S border patrol almost exclusively focused on Mexican immigrant workers. Then in the 1940s, the focus of the U.S border patrol shifted to the southern border.
In the historical analysis, The U.S. War with Mexico A Brief History with Documents, written by Ernesto Chavez provides insight on the events that lead up to the war as well as how the U.S. citizens perceived the Mexican citizens throughout the war. Prior to during and following the Mexican American War, Mexico and her people were critiqued by white Americans throughout the mid to late 1800s. The loss of the war would incur harsher judgement as well as treatment. The U.S. citizens viewed Mexican citizens before, during, and after the conflict through demeaning their culture, racial and economic exclusion. Many U.S. Citizens would distinguish who would be American by pigment and culture alienating Native Mexicans who shared the land with white
New Vision and Strategy The DoD’s legal limitation to operations in the homeland places an organization like JTF-N in marginalized position. JTF-N, a military unit, is in a position to be subordinate to domestic agencies charged with securing the southwest border. Because DHS is the largest domestic security agency, restructuring JTF-N within the DHS, under JTF-W, would provide a military arm that could provide invaluable planning and intelligence expertise to the CN mission and the fight against TCOs. The border security effort in the U.S. lacks a comprehensive direction.
In the middle of an afternoon rainstorm, Luis and Ana Rivera speed through the streets of Nashville, Tennessee about to give birth to their first child. Lorena Natalia Zola Rivera was born at 2:37 PM on May 6TH. The young dark haired girl was the prize of her family. Her mother and father always boasted that she was the prettiest and smartest child of her age. Lorena seemed to learn quickly.
As can be seen in documents A-H, from 1880 to 1925, immigration went from being the staple of the American culture to the common enemy of “native” Americans. In 1880 and before, immigrants were welcome to the United States with open arms, which is shown in document A with all of the foreigners flooding into the wide open gate of America. The purpose of document A was to advertise the acceptance of immigrants into the United States and all of the great things they would find when they arrived here. Document B displays that even until 1888, immigrants were viewed by the established Americans as a “double advantage”: helpful to the economy when needed and conveniently out of the way when unnecessary.
Essay Outline Topic: Mexican-American War Attention Grabber: Why would this ever start? Would there be a truce between the war? Did it almost start again?
Describe the “New Immigration”, and explain how it differed from the “Old Immigration” and why it aroused opposition from many Native-Born Americans. Antiforeignism was not a new concept in America in the 1880s. It had begun in the 1840s when the first large influx of immigrants emigrated to America, predominantly from Ireland and Germany. The American, or “Know Nothing”, political party was created specifically for the sake of excluding and barring the newcomers from equal opportunities, especially with the case of the Irish in the northeast. Fast forward forty years later and the Irish and the German have become common place amongst the native born Americans and the new wave of immigrants emerges.
The Mexican government believed that the border between Mexico and America
Our country was once a great refuge to people from all over the world. The government did not begin enforcing border patrol until 1924. This was the first step taken to limit immigration. Since then, it has continued to be a controversial issue. A. Donald Trump Donald Trump is not afraid to be brutally honest.
It is true that racism and sectionalism had been an issue prior to the Mexican American war, but the unification of the abolitionists with the Wilmot Proviso and the failures of the Compromise of 1850 mark the difference between prior and post war periods. Indeed, many may argue that the Compromise of 1850 averted the crisis created by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, but the Compromise in truth was nothing more than a time bomb that would be detonated in 1862, the start of the bloodiest struggle ever fought on American soil, the Civil
In the book, Urrea describes the harmful treatment illegal immigrants often experience as they attempt to cross the border. Although Border Patrol agents should treat immigrants humanely, Urrea states there are stories “of Border Patrol men taking prisoners out into the wasteland and having their way with them…. It’s the tawdry legacy of the human hunt—ill will on all sides” (17). Urrea claims these terrible actions and attitudes toward immigrants are a continuous pattern, and he uses stories from the past to prove this cycle. During the Civil War, thousands of Chinese workers were brought from Mexico to the U.S. to
Despite the multiple attempts at creating a well-rounded immigration reform the United States has failed to achieve the full capacity of the reform. The United States first failure at the reform was in 1986 when congress passed the “Immigration Reform and Control Act”. The purpose of this legislation was to amend, revise, and re-assess the status of unauthorized immigrants set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act. The content of this bill is overwhelming and is divided into many sections such as control of unauthorized immigration, legalization and reform of legal immigration.
These guards were not always able to patrol borders, however they did have a broader authority when it came to arrests. In in the year 1996, “Congress rewrote provisions in the immigration and Nationality Act … certain aliens subject to expulsions from the United States may become legal residents” (qtd. in ProCon.org).
