HW 2

The Pattern of U.S Immigration Policy towards Mexicans from the 30s to the 50s

Immigration is always seen as a positive driver of development in any country. Through immigration numerous countries have been seen to develop both economically as well as socially. Since time immemorial, the United States has always been seen as a destination of opportunity and freedom for billions of people around the world. Mexican immigration in the United States goes back to the first and the Second World War. Lack of strict rules at the border caused Mexican immigrants to move to the United States in search of better working opportunities.

From 1900 to 1930 recruitment of Mexican citizens in the United States was extremely high. These Mexican immigrants were used to provide cheap labor especially in the Agricultural Sectors. Campaigns against the Mexican Americans began after the great depression that America suffered around that time. These individuals were considered a threat and therefore the American government launched campaigns to send the Mexican people back to their original homeland. The Mexican community was forcefully ejected out of the United States through raids, and denial of employment opportunities. This led to the beginning of harsh, unfair immigration policies against the Mexican population by the government of the United States (Hoffman,30). Immigrants from Mexico to the United States have since been handled poorly by the immigration departments in the United States. This is not new as it has been recognized by numerous international human rights groups (Human Rights Watch, 2).

The Mexican Immigrant vs. the Kuwaiti Bedoon

The Mexican immigrant in the 1930s did not move to the United States willfully but rather forcefully. During that time, the United States was undergoing a serious economic turmoil that resulted from the Second World War and the Great Depression. There was increased demand for labor in the United States so that the country could meet its agricultural and railroad needs as well as manpower requirements. Not any form of labor was targeted by the United states by rather an inexpensive form of labor was needed by the United States to sustain itself. For this reason, the United States of America signed a treaty together with Mexico in 1942 in order to eradicate labor shortage in the United States. The treaty known as the Bracerio treaty would see a huge number of Mexican citizens, especially those peasants in rural homes moving to the United States to be employed in the railroad and agricultural sectors particularly (Chavez, 5). Other than forceful migration a good number of Chicanos moved to the United States in search of employment and better living conditions. At that time, Mexico’s economy was not performing and these immigrants needed employment opportunities to sustain themselves as well as their families.

The Kuwaiti bedoon unlike the Mexican immigrant cannot be described as an immigrant but rather a group of individuals denied and rejected in their own nation. For a long time now, Kuwait has been to practice what many refer to as institutionalized discrimination particularly against the bedoons. Bedoons are inhabitants of Kuwait like other communities in the region who were specifically denied citizenship by the nation’s authority thereby making them stateless.

In one of the richest countries in the world, the bedoons are considered as a society of “have nots” because they do not own anything. The Kuwaiti government has never done anything with the status of these people other than making promises of how they will be conferred with formal citizenship but these empty pledges have never been guaranteed (Dana 1). Finally the government stopped making promises o awarding the bedoons citizenship despite their undisputed qualifications and declared them illegal in the only country that they have ever known. Mistreatment of the bedoons in Kuwait is justified by the theory that they are indeed illegal aliens in Kuwait and therefore they are not justified to enjoy any fundamental rights enjoyed by that lawful city.

Immigration policies for many countries in the world have always been seen to spark debate. These policies mainly revolve around the transit of people across borders into a particular country. Immigration policies can therefore permit and individual to enter a specific country or may also deny the entry of individuals into a country. International law like national statutes gives permission to individual states to establish and implement policies on immigration as well as deportation. However this does not authorize states to violate or to discriminate individuals who seek to go through the immigration process. Despite this, states have always developed policies on immigration that seek to undermine the immigrant community. The United States is no exception.

There has been several calls for the United States to Upholds its immigration policies so that they can reflect and uphold human rights. Advocates of human rights affirm that the United States needs to amend it unfair immigration policies that they can outline a way forward the legal status of exploitation of the bedoon community. The immigrants living in the country. Immigration policies adapted in Kuwait since the 1930s have not been favorable on the bedoons too. For instance, Kuwait amended its laws on citizenship sometime back. This amendments specifically sought to limit the eligibility of a person from the bedoon community to citizenship. These and many other policies have over the time resulted in massive discrimination in citizens.

The issue of immigration is associated with numerous problems. Immigrants in foreign countries do not get the kind of lives that they hoped to achieve when they opted to settle into a different country. The main problem with being an immigrant starts with an individual’s legal status. Legal status is very important and without proper legal status and certification, an immigrant may face problems starting from identification, family to access of public and private services in the country. Immigrants have a vulnerable status in foreign countries due to the fact that they lack institution protection thereby causing their exploitation.

The status of the Chicano or the Mexican immigrant as well as that of the Kuwaiti Bedoon is similar. By virtue of being immigrants, these individuals normally face barriers to their basic rights and freedoms. The bedoon, unlike the rest of Kuwait citizens is barred from enjoying his or her fundamental freedoms. For instance, the bedoon does not have proper access to healthcare, education, nationality like other citizens in that country. The bedoons were banned from employment and children born into such families were prevented from attending either public or private schools.

Since they are categorized as illegal residents in the nation, they do not have access to national identity cards, traveling documents, driving licenses. This is crucial for their movement but due to the challenges that they face in order to acquire the documents, most of the bedoons have been forced to stay at home. This limits movement abroad in search of crucial services like medical or for other purposes like religious pilgrimages. A bedoon may only be given a travel document abroad if he or she vows never to return to the country. Various reports show that the Mexican immigrant living in the United States has the least accessed to healthcare services as compared to the rest of the population. Both the Mexican immigrant and the Kuwaiti Bedoon are considered as a vulnerable population. Their presence in the different countries triggers exploitation and harassment as they are often considered to having entered the nation illegally. Cases of racial profiling are rather alarming for the Chicanos as they are mostly associated with illegal activities. Due to the perception that the bedoons or the Mexican immigrants ar illegal, many fear the authorities and opt out of not filing complaints in order to avoid further scrutiny and harassment from the authorities.

Today however, Immigration policies in the United States are rather lenient for Mexican immigrants as compared to those imposing restrictions on bedoons in Kuwait. These policies have been challenged by various movements which seek to ensure that immigration policies in the United States are reformed in order to offer legal status for numerous undocumented Mexican immigrants living in the United States. The Mexican immigrant in the United States can access legal status as well as citizenship.

Work Cited

Dana Affleck. Being without – Who are the Bidoon of Kuwait. 2012. Retrieved fromrightnow.org.au/asylum-seekers/being-‘without—who-are-the-bidoon http

Hoffman, Abraham, Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression. Tucson University Press. 1974. Print.

Human Rights Watch. The Bedoons of Kuwait: Citizens without Citizenship. Human Rights Watch. 1995 Print.

John Chavez, the Lost Land: A Chicano Image of the South West. New Mexico University, 1984 Print.