Cuban migration to the United States

Due to the fact that Cuba is a communist country it people suffered serve backlashes especially from the United States and their citizens who had strong anti-Castro feelings. The United States deliberately administered restrictions on travels to Cuba and mostly towards refugees who came from Cuba. This was done to punish the Castro regime. Refugee and immigrant issues were often judged by the issue of a communist government in Cuba. Despite this, presently, Cuban Americans have been doing very well as a Hispanic nationality. Within a short period Cubans have made a significant mark in the Miami, turning Miami into a second Havana and making it the boomtown. (Schaefer, 2006, p.249-250).

The relationship between Cuban Americans and other Hispanic groups have been tedious due to constant intermingling of other Hispanic groups who are being categorized as Cubans. These other Hispanic groups feel as though their nationalities are being submerged. Slowly these nationalities are trying to work together to make their Hispanic group stronger. When Cubans fled to the states some were forced to leave their life saving along with everything they had. The fact that the Cubans are very educated they were able to deal successfully with the economic system. Families had to make major adjustment to fit in into a culture totally different from the Anglo culture in Cuba. Women who were accustomed to being housewife now had to seek employment, immigrant children were being exposed to a totally different culture and some even shun their Hispanic past and native language (Spanish). (Schaefer, 2006, p. 250).

Mexican migration to the United States during 1850- 1900s was relatively slow. By the 1900s approximately 100,000 Mexicans who lived in The United States were born in Mexico. The Recommendation Act (1902) and the Mexican Revolution (1910) attracted many Mexicans to the United States for security, a stable life and employment. Jobs in The United States paid these immigrants very low but compared to wages in Mexico they were considerably higher. In the first decade alone 31,000 Mexicans migrated to the United States. The boarder was basically open to anyone wishing to cross it until the creation of the Border Patrol in 1924.  ( Advameg, Inc, 2010, para. 7-14).

Majority of the times the male were the ones to leave Mexico to get a job to provide for their family back home. Those who got the opportunity to immigrate with their family were able to travel back and forth regularly due to the boarder that the United States shares with Mexico which is 2000 miles. Due to this, a lot of Mexicans brought their culture with them and kept it going strong. This included there language and their religion, which was predominantly Catholic.  ( Advameg, Inc, 2010, para 15).

As urbanization became more pronounced in the 1920s and Mexicans started to move into major cities, many persons considered Hispanics, including Mexicans, as part of the cause of increased crime rates, vagrancy and violence. When massive unemployment came about in the 1930s the Repatriation Program was initiated. It resulted in the mandated eviction of Mexicans back to Mexico. After World war and the reparation program Mexicans were subjected to segregation everywhere. As the years progressed, persons and organizations spoke out against the unjust treatments of immigrants from Mexico which leads to them obtaining equal rights. ( Advameg, Inc, 2010, para 15-31).

Most Puerto Ricans are from Spanish ancestry therefore Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion. Puerto Rico is one of the many U.S territories that has their own constitution and elect their own bicameral legislature and governor. Nevertheless, Puerto Rico is still subjected to U.S executive authority. Puerto Rico is represented in the U.S House of Representative by a resident commissioner. After 1992, because Puerto Rico has a commonwealth status, all those who are born in Puerto Rico automatically gained American citizenship whether they were born on the island or mainland. This was made possible through the Jones Act.(Advameg, Inc, 2010, para 2-3).

To solve the major social and economic problem in Puerto Rico, which was over population, the United States introduced American currency, health programs, hydroelectricity power, irrigation programs and economic policies to attract U.S industry which would in turn provide more job opportunities.  ( Advameg, Inc, 2010, para 4-7).

World War 2 resulted in the first major migration from Puerto Rico to the Unites States. During 1947 to 1957 the population of Puerto Rico raised by nearly 2 million persons. This resulted in very high unemployment rate. Most persons went to The U.S where jobs were widely available. Most of this Mexican settlement was in East Harlem which was name Spanish Harlem because of the population of Hispanics who lived there. Most of the immigrants were young men who came to work so that that they could send money back to their family in Mexico or save enough to migrate their family to the U.S. The rise in migration from the island eventually led to social problems such as rising violent crimes, overcrowding and more unemployed individuals. The migration to the U.S caused a breakdown of the traditionally strong Puerto Rican family structure and some individuals were also handicapped by the Spanish to English language barrier in the different cities.  ( Advameg, Inc, 2010, para 14-17).

Immigrants who came from Central and South America are a diverse population. Most times in government statistics they are referred to as others and are rarely differentiated by nationality. Persons from Central and South America have a variety of native languages within the different countries. These include: Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese or French. There are no distinct racial groupings instead, color gradient is used. Apart from color gradient social class distinction, religious differences, urban verses rural background and the different dialect used within the same language are used to identify the different types of groupings in Central and South America. (Schaefer, 2006, p. 251).

The immigration of Central and South Americans have been greatly influenced by immigration laws and social forces of their home country. Perceived economic opportunities encouraged the northward migration in the 1960s. From 1978 war and economic chaos in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala caused many refugees to flee to the United States. After migrating to the States, many of the immigrants from Central and South America opened up grocery stores, restaurants, travel agencies and real estate firms. Even with the opening of these different businesses by Central and South Americans there are those who work in jobs that require very little or no skills so as to be able to afford urban life. (Schaefer, 2006, p. 252-253).

The major difference between each type of Hispanic groups is the different regulation and laws which deals with immigrants from different countries. In some countries it might be easier to pass the U.S boarders than in others. Some immigrants shunned their culture after arriving in the States because they thought it would make them more accepted, while others kept their culture going strong even though they were in a different country. Commonalities between these groups was that they were all shunned by Anglo Americans because they were immigrants and they had to fight to start a life in the States so that they could take care of their family back home or in the States as well.