The Immigration Issue

Inevitably, the immigration issue is framed in the same terms as expressed in this article. Central Americans, and Mexicans, move to the US for greater economic opportunities, really a higher income. But this is nothing new. For many decades those from south of the Rio Grande have obtained work north of the border and sent that money home. It's different now.

In the past, men left their families and temporarily worked in the US. As time has gone by, many of these men have taken up with women from the north and never returned to their original homes. This has been a serious problem in Mexico. Latinas now realize that what has happened to others could happen to them and their children as well. 

There is more to the situation than that as well. Latin America is in general a very socially conservative, Catholic patriarchy. The Latinas, one half of this male-dominated society, have been able to observe that things are very much different in the feminist north. The legal system and employment opportunities are far more favorable to women than they are in Mexico and Central America. They are more reluctant to wave good-bye to a husband that might never return from Los Angeles or Phoenix.

So they join their spouses, bring their children along, and make the move as a family, perhaps thinking temporarily but keeping the option of a permanent residency open. 

No change in the legal climate allowed or encouraged this. It was the result of a change in US culture, where, in many ways, US women have obtained enormous advantages over their male counterparts. Latinas aren't ignorant of this. That's why they too are moving north with their men.