Colonization of Mexican Americans in the United States Essay

Colonization of Mexican Americans in the United States - Essay Example (p. 303) Being a major minority group, Mexican Americans are now facing different challenges coping with contemporary American society, given that the nation is still fairly divided regarding the policies on ethnic minorities and immigrants in the United States. As stated by Healy (2006), â€Å"Of all the challenges confronting the United States today, those relating to minority groups continue to be among the most urgent and the most daunting† (p. xix). In this case, this paper aims to look into the different issues faced by Mexican Americans in the United States, in the context of them being a major minority group in this ethnically-diverse country. Specifically, this paper would try to glance into the following controversial issues: the historical background of Mexican colonization in the United States; of Mexican immigration into the United States (both in â€Å"legal† and â€Å"illegal† immigrants); major socioeconomic indicators of Mexican Americans (especi ally poverty), and the conditions of Mexican culture and ethnicity in the context of a multiracial society. In order to understand better the social context of Mexican American minority groups in the United States, it is important to look at the historical context of Mexican colonization and immigration in the country. ... e of the first Mexican presidents, the former rebel general Santa Ana† actually lost it â€Å"to the United States after a two-year war that ended in 1848† (Geographia.com, 2008). This may be one reason why, even up to the present, most Americans of Hispanic descent lives in this region, and why most Mexican Americans choose to migrate in the southwestern part of the United States. One of the main motivations why dominant group Americans conquered this area in the 19th century is because they actually needed a â€Å"cheap labor force in agriculture, ranching, mining, railroad construction, and other areas of dominant group economy in the Southwest† (Healy, 2006, p. 306). Also, because of the proximity of Mexico to the United States, there was a constant population movement across the border (Healy, 2006, p. 306). It can be seen therefore that the presence of many Mexican Americans in the American southwest, as well as their continued immigration into the area, has been largely due to both historical circumstances and economic conditions as major motive factors. This would continue to the trend as Mexican legal immigration, as well as â€Å"illegal immigration† into the United States, would continue well into the present. Concerning the immigration of Mexican Americans into the United States, Healy (2006) actually argues that By and large, the policies of the federal government have responded to these (immigration) conditions and have encouraged immigration during good times and clamped down during bad times (p. 310). As described in the history of Mexican Americans in the United States, dominant groups actually had the initiative of conquering parts of Mexico in the Mexican-American War (which later became the American Southwest), and used its population to serve as