Julian Samora was a Notre Dame professor and Latino studies pioneer. Dr. Samora was also a keen observer of U.S. immigration policy and the Mexican border.
His 1971 book, Los Mojados: Wetback Story, (This offensive term was freely used long ago) the scholar’s take is sobering. I pulled a quote for my master’s thesis. Here it is, along with my thesis observations:
He believes the presence of undocumented Mexican workers is “profitable” to the United States economy for three reasons:
employment of officials to apprehend, care for, and expel the aliens; the money that the aliens spend before being apprehended, and the cheap labor which the aliens represent. Samora sees “the insatiable demand for cheap labor in the U.S. and the tremendous population increase occurring in Mexico” as the two most important causes of “illegal” immigration.
The Border Patrol, he adds, has worked not to “apprehend and exclude illegal aliens, but to regulate the numbers
already in this country.” He goes on to conclude that, based on his
research and that of his associates ••• the transition from a relatively open border to a relatively closed border occurs in cycles depending on the demands of the U.S. economy, particularly as such demands affect the Southwest. The relaxation of immigration policy, the relaxation of enforcement, and the employment of illegal Mexican aliens appear related to these cycles.
The movement of Mexicans over the border appears to be related to the efforts of U.S. employers to encourage the relaxation of immigration restriction and enforcement at boom times or in extended periods of prosperity, whereas, the greatest efforts to clear out Mexicans occur in the anticipation of a recession or during times of widespread unemployment.
My view today:
The flow of migrants across the border cannot be shut off. Trying to do so is akin to seeking to regulate the rising and setting of the sun.
Ricardo Chavira Chicano 