In the Time of the Monarch Butterfly

By in Immigrant NYC, Latin American Immigration

Mexican Migrant Push/Pull Factors By Julia Zenker Wagner College ’14 Philosophy and Spanish “After being here for twenty-five years, yes, I feel like an American”, commented Juana during an interview about her experience as an immigrant (Juana interview). Juana, an undocumented Mexican immigrant crossed the US-Mexican border more than twenty-five years ago. With her two young sons in tow, Juana describes how she was able to contract a coyote to help her make the trek. In search of work, Juana’s husband, a gardener, had relocated to the United States four months prior to Juana’s trip north. Juana’s husband eventually found work among the approximate 319,263 Mexicans in the New York Metropolitan area and the 18,684 on Staten Island (Young 1).The couple had decided that there was no need for the family to be separated when the children could receive a...