Hi,
Well I'm from Mexico City, and for a better comprehension, I think it's better to clarify some things about mexican workers who immigrate to the US. First, the majority of fellow citizens who go there are people that live in rural communities outside the big cities where the opportunities for a good job are practically none. Basically, they live upon working the fields, and today in Mexico, to live and work in the agriculture field is no longer profitable because the pay is low, very, very low, that the payment or profits they receive is not enough to feed their numerous family members. And besides, because the government doesn't back them up with programs or money or anything that can help them continue living with the work they do. Or, they can surely be pressed upon working for the cartel drugs.
So, these people who immigrate to the US are people with no academic education, people who are poor or very, very poor and have the need to go there, because if they come to the cities in Mexico looking for a job, they won't find any that they can be hired for, not even for cleaning toilets. And if they come, surely they will become beggars on the street who occasionally sell candy or cigarettes or something, you know? Those people are the ones that risks their lifes to get to the US.
The economy in Mexico, everyday is getting worse. The wage or salary that all of mexican companies and government institutions pay here is by day, and not by hour like the US. For example, the minimum wage here is $59.82 pesos that's $4.62 dollars by day (8 or more hours that the average mexican has to work, no payment for extra time). North American companies or jobs pay way more by hour. So, do the math. In Mexico 2 pounds of meat or 1 kilogram costs $65 pesos. So, the minimum wage isn't enough for even buying the essential basic basket. That's fuc*ed up!
And when these people get there, to the US, the minimum wage they receive under the table, is much more than they can receive in Mexico.
The middle and upper class in Mexico receives more than one minimum wage (from 5 to 25), never immigrate to the US looking for a better life or opportunities, because, even though the economic situation in Mexico is tough, we can still manage to live the day. Only the ones who by their work or companies sent to the US, occasionally go there. But that's very rare.
""what happened to all the jobs the american companies sent to Mexico and nafta?""-- Nothing, that's a false illusion, they only sent (sorry for the bad translation) "to assemble job things", I hope you get the idea. The NAFTA was only to get Walmart, McDonald's, Starbucks, etc, into the country, but no real jobs and payment.
"Mexico has a much lower unemployment rate while Americas unemployment rate is high"-- No! That's false. Mexico has now a much more higher unemployment rate than 20 years ago. Data obtained by internal mexican statistics. Compared to the US, yes, I think, we have a lower rate, but seeing it from this mexican inside point of view, it's not.
So, that's a little bit of the explanation that why mexican workers (lower class) immigrate to the US.
Answered By: Acuario - 9/21/2011 |