Globalization in Latin America Final

Jacob Mountain

Professor Trigo

IntStds 5640

23 Apr. 2020

Final

  • What are the main challenges posed by transnational migration?…

Transnational migration refers to the settling of immigrants in a new country while still maintaining familial, social, and cultural ties to their nation of origin. Such is the case in the United States when it comes to migrants of the past 60 years. Specifically, in the United States, transnational migration is often used to describe the migratory patterns of Mexicans. Transnational migration poses many problems, most specifically, it raises the question to the migrated to nation (the United States) about how to preserve a singular cultural identity and where these migrants fit economically, and it raises the question to migrated from nation (Mexico) on how to guarantee the livelihood of the (often poor) citizens that have left. By considering the economic, political, social, and cultural consequences of transnational migration, its role in the global neoliberal economy can be understood, thusly elucidating the answers to the questions it imposes on the migrated to and migrated from nations.

Transnational migration is explicitly neoliberal. In the neoliberal configuration, human bodies both are and create capital. Therefore, transnational immigration is, above all, an economic proposition: why would one remain impoverished in their home country when the option to maintain social and familial ties to the nation, while earning a higher income somewhere else is possible? Transnational migration, in this paper being defined as the widespread Mexican migration beginning in the 1960s, was fueled by failing economic policy in Mexico that enabled a highly stratified society to entrench the nation. For the Mexican government, their saving grace would come in the form of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), arguably the gold standard of neoliberal economic policy. NAFTA would lead to the 1994 Peso Crisis in Mexico. (Bacon) An economy in freefall and the largest income gap between contiguous countries (Huntington) establishes the perfect conditions for widespread, mass migration. The main economic consequence of transnational migration is the exploitation and devaluation of migrant labor. This is seen in post-NAFTA migration. As mentioned, NAFTA crippled the Mexican economy, highlighting structural abuses that led to such a stratified class system. The main issue, writes Bacon, is that in the ensuing fallout post-NAFTA migrants were not simply migrants they were, “both job seekers and refugees.” (Bacon, 67) Because of this, transnational migrants are never truly seen as “migrants”. They are valued at the level of biocapital: a body can produce income that will accumulate unto wealth. The devaluation of migrants as humans into workers, restricts the ability of migrants to appeal for, at the very least, human rights, and for, at the highest, citizen rights. Because they are seen as itinerant bodies, these workers, with neither human nor citizen’s rights, are, writes Bacon, “routinely cheated of much of their pay,” and do not, “get overtime pay.” (Bacon, 66) Because of this, Kimberly-Clark can maintain high profits without spending exorbitant amounts on labor. The inability of these workers to earn a fair wage, due to their immigration status, essentially restricts them to two options: permanent itinerancy or return.

While the economic consequence of transnational migration can be seen in company profits, often time social and cultural trends appear without making much noise. Culturally, no single location in the U.S. has felt such a strong change from transnational migration as Miami has. Huntington writes that in 2000, “75.2% of adult Miamians spoke a language other than English at home,” with, “87.2%,” of that population speaking Spanish. The cultural shift in Miami can be seen as a direct consequence of transnational migration. As stated earlier, transnational migration occurs when migrants maintain social and cultural relationships with their origin nation. In the case of Cuban Americans in Miami, there was no “nation of origin” to which things were able to be sent back. Due to the practices of the Castro administration, Cubans in Miami were able to take the income that could’ve otherwise been sent home, and, “invested in Miami.” (Huntington) Similarly, Huntington quotes a Cuban sociologist as saying, “In Miami, there is no pressure to be American.” This presents opposition to traditional, Anglo-Saxon cultural values that, over time, became the standard of “Americanness”. Therefore, asymmetrical transnational migration (as opposed to transnational migration, such as that of Mexican immigrants) is limiting to the state’s ability to preserve a singular cultural tradition. While there may not be as much as a cultural force in every place transnational migrants go to such as with Miami, social effects are still readily visible. The most notable area where transnational migration has lasting social repercussions is in education By the 1990s, Mexican immigration accounted for nearly 25% of the total migration to the U.S. (Huntington) Overwhelmingly, these migrants settle in southern California and also in Texas.. In 2002, Los Angeles recorded that over, “70 percent of the students in the Los Angeles Unified School District were Hispanic, predominantly Mexican.” (Huntington) While this figure does not represent a dramatic cultural flip like that of Miami, as California has always been a sort of melting pot of the United States, it is through these developing social norms that cultural norms can take root. Most notably, this social shift is noticed in the push for bilingualism. The call for bilingualism is a bipartisan effort and the highest-profile support it ever had was when then-President Bill Clinton said, “I hope very much that I’m the last president in American history who can’t speak Spanish.” (Huntington) Comparing this viewpoint to the viewpoint of Woodrow Wilson, who believed America should have only one tongue, it is clear the social effects that transnational migration has had on the United States in the past sixty years.

Finally, the last important consequence of transnational migration comes in the form of politics. Politically, migration is a polar issue: Democrats tend to be in favor of lessening restrictions, more open borders, more rights for immigrants with republicans tending to oppose such protections. However, the one lasting consequence that transnational migration has given to the United States is a voting bloc. According to NBC News, Latinx voters are poised to become the largest voting bloc in 2020 making up approximately 13.3% of voters (NBC) It is yet to be seen just how this voting bloc will come into play in the 2020 election, and in many elections to come. Huntington writes that there is a 3.0 fertility rate for Hispanics. With that information, it is almost guaranteed that by the next decade, 2030, Latinx voters will be far more sizeable, and therefore, able to flex far more political muscle enabling dramatic change that could change the country, the way Cubans changed Miami.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Bacon, David. Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants. Beacon Press, 2008.

Gamboa, Suzanne. “Latinos on Track to Be Largest Share of Nonwhite Voters in 2020, Pew Says.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 30 Jan. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/first-time-latinos-be-largest-non-white-share-eligible-voters-n964571.

Huntington, Samuel P. “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy, 28 Oct. 2009, foreignpolicy.com/2009/10/28/the-hispanic-challenge/.