Immigration Reforms: A Mexican-American Perspective

Abstract

U.S. Immigration is currently at a higher level than at any period since the 1920s. This has had important socio-economic effects and has caused considerable political division and controversy. Because many of both the documented and undocumented immigrants have come from Mexico, the Latino community in general, and the Mexican-American community specifically, has found itself in the center of the dispute. Immigration reform has been a test of Mexican-American political influence. Latinos had hoped that their political power would grow dramatically during the 1980s. Instead, they enter the 1990s realizing that their political progress will necessarily be more gradual.