Desert Immigrants The Mexicans of El Paso 1880-1920 by...

Desert Immigrants: The Mexicans of El Paso 1880-1920 analyzes and discusses the Mexican immigrants to El Paso, Texas. The most western city of the vast state of Texas, a city in the edge of the Chihuahuan desert; a place too far away from many regions of the United States, but as Mario Garcà ­a explains a very important city during the development of the western United States. He begins explaining how El Paso’s proximity to different railroads coming from Mà ©xico and the United States converged there, which allowed El Paso to become an â€Å"instant city†, as mining, smelting, and ranching came to region. (Garcà ­a 2) As El Paso is transforming, and becoming an industrialized city –there is a surge in labor need, as mining is booming. Many Mexicans†¦show more content†¦Mario Garcà ­a’s study of this era could also be considered prophetic to many Mexicans in the mid-nineties as the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, it sank Mà ©xico’s economy, lands that the Mexican revolution had provided for farmers were gone, and as Mà ©xico was now obliged with treaty to buy produce from the United States. Mexican farmers unable to compete fled Mà ©xico once again in search for a better life to the United States. Garcà ­a’s book can be very dense at times, providing the reader with many numbers, graphs, and statistics. Nevertheless, these statistics provide the reader with a better understanding on how El Paso was being shaped by Mexican immigrants; it also provides a new light on immigration during the nineteen and twentieth century’s in the United States. Many times Mexican immigration is overlooked, and thought of, as a recent event, when people think of nineteenth century immigration many think of the European immigration into the United States, yet Garcà ­a’s study shows that people were