| The Making of Modern Immigration: An Introduction xx immigrant families have languished or died. In Utah, for instance, a plan to insure 800 children of immigrants has been shelved. 31 North and South Finally, we would be remiss if we did not take note of the special circumstances of immigration resulting from the large numbers arriving at the southern border for entry—legally and illegally—into the United States. Given the overwhelming amount of funds going to the Department of Homeland Security in the last several years dedicated to bolstering immigration enforcement, the sheer economics of the north-south divide has caught the attention of policy analysts and scholars far and wide. 32 A decade ago, there were about 2,200 daily arrivals as immigrants or refugees who had been invited to become permanent residents of the United States. Yet about 5,000 foreigners made unauthorized entries each day, and nearly 4,000 of them are apprehended just after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Typically, they were (and are still) incarcerated while awaiting deportation. But nearly 1,000 eluded detection, or slipped from legal to illegal status by violating the terms of their visas. By most estimates, despite all the time and resources that have gone into securing the border in the last decade, the numbers have not changed all that much. The porous nature of our southern border is a fact, though it is a much more dangerous crossing than in previous years. These days, an alien could be robbed by a “coyote” who, on promises to help evade the border patrol, simply leaves the helpless émigré in the desert. Often aliens are carted in containers for exorbitant sums, suffering tremendous heat and potential suffocation. 33 In some respects, the vigilante movements that have gained prominence in border states and as far north as the Corn Belt, have been a further burden to bear. It is humiliating—and poten- tially violent, at worst—to have a group hunt for other humans. The presence of Latino/a Americans in last two presidential elections has been significant, and their presence in great numbers in California and Texas makes them a major political powerhouse. Certainly there is political capitalization, and the rising rates of immigrants from the Southern Hemisphere are being carefully monitored in the year of the decennial census. Half of all Latino/as in the United States trace their origins to Mexico and Central America, and most are poor and young. Approximately 5.4 percent of white families draw incomes below the pov- erty line as compared to 15 percent of Latino/a families. Most Latino/as supply ser- vices in agriculture, construction, landscaping, and other employment sectors and, for all their hard work, are paid poorly. Nevertheless, their remittances are in the billions of dollars. About half of Latino/a youngsters never complete high school, and fewer still enter and complete college. They are the fastest growing population group in U.S. jails.
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