Mexican: Article 3

Thousands of Mexicans make the trek across the border every year.  They risk heat exhaustion, coyotes, and most of all, their lives in the extremely dangerous ordeal of, illegally, crossing the border into America.   The immigrants hire expensive guides to help them cross into America successfully.  These guides are often untrustworthy; known to rip off immigrants and even sexually abuse them. But, to many immigrants, the potential dangers are worth the risk for all that they hope to find in America. Although the notion of the American dream has changed throughout time, many immigrants still hold the idea to be true that there are many more opportunities here than in their home countries.

Women, especially, wish to leave the harsh living conditions in Mexico for safety reasons.  One specific example of this is the violent murders taking place in Juarez, Mexico. In 2010 alone, three hundred and four women were slain. Evidence has shown that these attacks, beginning in the 1990’s, are results of local gang involvement, drug abuse, and jealousy of men. The government refuses to prioritize these tragedies and hundreds of women continue to be killed every year. It is rare that arrests are made regarding these incidents. This is a prime example of why Mexican women wish to flee their country.

While researching, we found that the Mexican immigrant population is the fastest growing population in New York.  We also found specific data detailing the large number of single women headed households of Mexican immigrants in the city. It is possible that this situation may be caused by the rising alcohol rates, as mentioned in our other article. But, this is just an inference of ours, and may have our premises imposed upon it.

Once the women have completed the trek across the border and up to New York City successfully, depending upon their personal capital there are many hardships they must face. One of the most prominent ones being: the language barrier. Statistics show majority of the Mexican women that immigrate to the U.S. have little to no knowledge of English, which makes finding a job extremely difficult. As a result, many of the women end up working as domestic house cleaners or daycare supervisors. Surprisingly these salaries are double the amount they would be making in Mexico. This is another reason why many Mexican women choose to immigrate to the U.S. 

In more recent years, New York City has adapted to the needs presented by the influx of Mexican immigrants. There has been an increase in the number of organizations that cater to Mexican immigrant’s needs. We found and would like to highlight one specific organization that strives to serve the immigrant women population, Hot Bread Kitchen. We received a first hand tour and information session with an employee from this amazing non-profit organization.  The enterprise aims at providing women with better lives.  Their mission is to “increase economic security for foreign-born and low-income women by opening access to the billion dollar specialty food industry , that was formerly a man’s only world,” and “to build esteem of immigrants by the sale of delicious multi-ethnic breads that are inspired by their bakers and the many countries that they come from”.   Traditionally, in Mexican culture, the specialty of food was designed and crafted by women, while men handled the business lucrative aspect. Hot Bread Kitchen is bringing both back to the women, all while providing them with economic security and a comfortable community to thrive in.

If organizations like Hot Bread Kitchen continue to support and empower immigrant women, the assimilation into American will be easier.   As Leticia Alanis, director of La Union (an organization that fights for immigrants justice and civil rights in Sunset Park), says, “Women come here for opportunities, and their children to then have these opportunities as well”.  These programs are helping to give these women opportunities to be successful and in turn a chance for their children to be successful.