Mexican Remittances Increase Little

Though this article is short I thought that it highlighted an interesting fact. It states that the billions of dollars sent back to Mexico from immigrants in America is one of the countries largest sources of income. This revenue is used to build factories and other job sources in Mexico but has been cut because of the minimal rise in remittances due to the cutting of hiring by American employers by unregistered immigrants.

I just thought that it was interesting that the Mexican economy relies heavily on immigration to America and was is sent back. It shows a meager effort on the part of Mexico to build its own homeland sources of revenue.

This article does tie into the class because it shows the huge support supplied to families in Mexico supplied from America by the different generations of relatives.

I found this audio article while searching for an opinion on immigration from Mexico's point of view. While not one of the best articles that I have found it was interesting because it focuses on a trip that North Carolinian policy makers took to Mexico in an attempt to understand what drives them to immigrate to America and how to better understand poilicies that they put into effect.

Find the audio file at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6285623

Clinton's Election Potentially Rides on the Latino Vote

Hillary Clintons election as the Democratic candidate could be up to the vote of the Latino population in Texas, according to CNN. Though Clinton originally lead 2-1 over Obama in the Latino community recent screw ups have led to an increase of Latino votes towards Obama.

With Texas left for a major Latino victory Obama has made outstanding progress in the hearts of Latinos by answering more appropriatly questions previously asked of Clinton. Clinton has created a divide between the African and Latino communities in her party by blaming African unemployment rates on unregistered Latino immigrants.

This ties into recent class discussions by showing how the Latino vote and participation in politics matter. It also shows that if Latinos are educated enough to feel that they can make an educated vote that it can really matter in the outcome of an election.

See article:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/27/navarette.opinion/index.html

Latinos eager to learn english

According to an article in the New York Times and the Pew Hispanic Center, Latinos are eager to learn English after immigrating to America. After the first generation of immigrants there is an average jump of 60+ percent in the level of English fluency. Most immigrants fear that they will be discriminated against if they do not speak English, and that speak fluent English is the key to success in America. Although many recent immigrants (nearly 70%) admitted to poor English skills they all feel that there ability to speak English was poor of a factor in discrimination than race.
This ties in with recent talks in class because it shows the differences between the different generations in immigrant families and their concern for discrimination. It also shows a varied concept on the issue of assimilation amongst immigrants. The article says that contrary to concerns with assimilation that many Latino immigrants feel that learning English is necessary. However, the retention of Spanish is also a large factor in Latino life and that only 15 percent of families said they were largely English speaking.

The link to the article is as follows-
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/us/30immig.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=latino&st=nyt&oref=slogin