Migration of Latino Men to the U.S.

Except for a few refugees from Haiti and Castro's Cuba, the vast majority of Latino men entering the U.S.-- legally or illegally -- come for economic reasons. They come, perhaps somewhat naively, expecting the streets to be paved with gold, or, at the very least, opportunities galore for making money and either sending it back "home" or enough to bring their families Northward. Latino men flee their countries because of warfare, or rebellion which causes numerous casualties. They also come because of natural disasters- floods, earthquakes, drought, hurricanes, volcano eruptions, etc. They come with one goal: to safeguard themselves and their families and to take advantage of all they have heard about opportunities for them in America.

Yet, they have literally left the frying pan to migrate into the fire. They face not merely prejudice from the white population, anger from African-Americans who see these new arrivals as undercutting their low-paying jobs, but also from American-born Latinos. The fact that Latinos, especially Latino men, are no longer congregating in border towns is cause for alarm among various groups. "Brown is moving West to East, South to North. Brown terrifies the skinhead in Colorado, bewilders the African-American historian" (Rodriguez 1998 1).

One problem, in assessing the migration of Latino men is that, perhaps for the first time in their lives, they are facing racial prej

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dent George W. Bush's first meeting with Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, the week of January 22. One needs to explore the impact of these newly arrived Latino men on the established Latino communities. As mentioned above, there is a fear of wage and employment competition. There is a fear of these new arrivals, either unmarried or with families remaining behind, of becoming promiscuous and developing drug habits. In some instances, statistics already provide proof: "Migration between the United States and Central and South America is probably affecting the spread of HIV/AIDS. More than 58,000 Latinos living in the United Statesahad injection-related AIDS or had already died from it by the end of 1998" (Dogwood Center 2001 1). What makes this statistic even more frightening is not merely that Latinos are at least one and a half times as likely as whites to get AIDS, but when these migrating men return to their families, they carry and spread the virus back home. Illegal arrivals of Latinos (men as well as entire families) is costing the states, such as Arizona, Texas, and California, literally billions of dollars in welfare aid. California, of course, passed the infamous Proposition 187 (later found unconstitutional)
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Dominican Cuban, Brown Racism, North Brown, Dalton Georgia, Roberto Suro, Vietnamese Chinese, Eastward Pacific, Northward Latino, Somehow America, Vicente Fox, migration latino, central south america, illegal aliens, proposition 187, native lands, martinez 1995, illegal latino, latino newcomers, illegals willing, mccuen 1997, skin color,
Approximate Word count = 2233
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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