A Tale of Illegal Immigrants

Mexico

to the USA

This is the border between Mexico and the United States. The border stretches along four states of the US:•California•Arizona•New Mexico•Texas Use your

atlas to measure the length of the border between the USA & Mexico

MEXICO TO THE USA

Why do people try to cross the border illegally ?

What are the push factors ?

What are the pull factors ?

The Battle of the Cowboys versus The Battle of the Cowboys versus the Mexican Immigrantsthe Mexican Immigrants

• Much of the land in southern Arizona is cattle farming territory

• This means that there are large spaces of open land available to illegal immigrants wanting to cross the border

• This provides an immigrant with a suitable, and ‘safe’ place to cross the border.

• Imagine you are an illegal immigrant from Mexico trying to get across into USA. Why would you want to cross here? Think of as many reasons as you can.

• Why do you think that the Cowboys of Arizona are against this ‘human traffic?’

The Cowboys Argument…The Cowboys Argument…

• The cowboys of Arizona are only trying to make sure their livelihoods remain intact

• Joe Harris is a rancher on the border:“a lot of them bring garbage bags…they use them to sleep in or use them as makeshift rain ponchos. My cattle pick them up and chew on them. They get in to their stomachs and plug them up…eventually the cows starve to death.”

• The cowboys refer to the huge numbers of immigrants coming across the border as an invasion.

• Some cowboys have resorted to extreme tactics of detaining any immigrants found on their land…“…I would exert enough force to protect me and my family…they would be bought and paid for.” (this means he would be prepared to detain immigrants found on his land by gun point and possibly shoot them!)

Around 1,000,000 people a year are caught by the United States Border Patrol trying to cross the border. Many of these are repeat offenders.

What would make you risk a crossing ?

What do you think most American’s think of the ‘illegal aliens’ or ‘pollos’ as they are called ?

Why are some people glad to see the illegal immigrants?

The border at night

Why do Mexicans Want to Move?Why do Mexicans Want to Move?

• Mexicans cross the border in search of a better life.• The movement of people was seen to be at first, a

problem for Mexico.• However, most migrants send money back to their home

country – these are known as ‘remittances.’• In 2003 the amount of money sent back to Mexico was

more than $13 billion• This money is being used to alleviate poverty, spur

investment, and improve standards of living• Migrants from Mexico are now called heroes and not

traitors for leaving their homeland for USA.

Creative Writing...Creative Writing...

• You are now to begin a piece of creative writing about migration from Mexico to the USA.

• Imagine that you are one of the many Mexicans desperate to get into the USA, bearing in mind the numerous push and pull factors that you are aware of….

• You cannot cross the border legally; you must sneak across.

• You are to produce a piece of writing telling the story of

how you managed to cross the border (or not!!)

How to write creatively…How to write creatively…

• use the past tense• first person viewpoint (ie. “I”)• in chronological order (ie. Order of time)• opening paragraph: describe your situation, your

feelings and your plans• 2nd paragraph: the start of your journey, perhaps

mentioning the push factors• 3rd paragraph: your journey over the border, still

mentioning push but also pull factors• use adjectives to project the mood and describe your

feelings• include lots of your feelings; how would you feel if you

got caught??

Try to include:Try to include:

• Details of the push factors that are making you want to move. Think about money, housing, crime, lack of employment opportunities, natural hazards (earthquakes), transport systems

• What was attracting you towards the USA (pull factors) ?

• How you travelled over the border ?

• Any danger you experienced along the way; did you meet the border patrols, did you pay a ‘coyote’ to help ?

• What you did if you managed to cross the border