Gonzalez 1

Samantha Gonzalez

GNED 1300-09

Dra. Blanco-Cano

October 5, 2009

Mexican Immigration: An Annotated Bibliography

Durand, Jorge, and Douglas S. Masey. Crossing the border research from the Mexican

Migration Project. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004. Print.

In Crossing the border, the editors Jorge Durand and Douglas Masey try to clarify the

many misconceptions there are when referring to the topic of Mexican immigration into

the United States. By using statistics from the Mexican Migration Project, which is the

largest and most reliable database for Mexican immigration data, both editors try to

answer vital questions when researching this topic. Main questions that are pointed out

are “who are these people?” and “why do they come here?” Both editors try to eliminate

the myth that when coming to the U.S. all immigrants are impoverished and destitute,

when the reality is that the immigrants come because of the higher wages provided in

America that would help them to finance their homes back in Mexico. Durand and Masey

also try to convince the audience that stricter border enforcement is not the permanent

solution for the immigration flow into the United States but leaves immigrants with the

only choice of crossing the border in more hazardous zones.

Hellman, Judith Adler. World of Mexican migrants the rock and the hard place. New York:

New, Distributed by W. W. Norton & Co., 2008. Print.

Judith Hellman’s The World of Mexican Migrants offers a more insightful view of the

many Mexican immigrants in the U.S. Instead of statistical data and numbers, Hellman

focuses on the emotions and more detailed points of view from these immigrants. She
 Gonzalez 2

also explains the many complicated factors that influence the decisions of the

immigrants’ of either staying in the United States or going back to Mexico. Such factors

for the immigrants include having children born in the U.S. that wish to remain there or

the harsh realities of city life that could include a low standard of living. In conclusion, it

is shown that most of Hellman’s immigrant research participants only wish to make

enough funds to build a suitable home back in Mexico.

Zuniga, Victor, and Ruben Hernandez-Leon. New destinations Mexican immigration in the

United States. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2005. Print.

In New Destinations, the main emphasis presented by Zuniga and Hernandez is that

Mexican immigration is not just confined to border regions of the U.S. but has expanded

to areas where there had been no previous exposure to the Mexican culture. And due to

this phenomenon, these areas have been subject to be reshaped by what the Mexican

immigrants culturally have to offer. The book covers areas such as the Midwest,

Northeast, and deep south that have been the more recent for immigration settlement.