UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA II 1111111139001006484193 • 0. (10f,f • • , MEXICAN IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES A STUDY OF HUMAN MIGRATION AND ADJUSTMENT cj BY n MANUEL GAMIO (3 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO • ILLINOIS COPYRIGHT 1930 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED MAY 1930 COMPOSED AND PRINTED BY THE UNIVERS,TY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. PREFACE This study of Mexican immigration, carried on by Dr. Gamio during 1926-27, was made possible by the Social Science Research Council. The documentary materials which form the basis of the following chapters include a series of autobio- graphic statements made by_Me2d.can_imn_L,i.gants in the United States and written down, as they were_given„hy_Dr. Gamio and his associates. These life-histories are to appear, soon after the publication date of this book, in a companion volume issued by the same press under the title, "The Mexican Immigrant: His Life Story." EDITOR 76553 INTRODUCTION The effects of migration between the United States and Mexico are scarcely known, yet the problem is important and demands the attention of both countries toward its solution. The migratory currents flowing from Mexico to the United States and from the United States into Mexico cannot be con- sidered from a single point of view. Mexican_- emigration to the United States is made up, mainly, 6f unskilled labor, a great population turning to the United States for wages better than it can procure in its own country. It is true that many of these immigrants are, in Mexico, skilled laborers, but in the United StafeS of necessity— th.eY-'6e-–c-6-frieill–dis e ignorance of the language, and because of their inability to operate the modern agricultural and industrial machinery they are called upon to use. On the other hand, Americans who go to Mexico are seldom laborers, but tourists, teachers, writers, artists, and students, and a business class consisting of owners, representatives, managers, and employees in commercial and industrial enter- prises. In view of this fact, the Social Science Research Council proposed in 1926 to make an investigation of this migration, limiting it to a study of Mexican immigration into the United Sfates,and it recommended to the author a prela which might contribute later to a more conclusive investiga- tion. e ens o a year's work the author presented a pre- liminary report to the Social Science Research Council at the confefèFices held at Dartmouth College, Hanover,_ New _Hamp- shire, &tiring the last week of September, 1927. These pages contain the essential points of this report in vii viii INTRODUCTION addition to various later amplifications. In November, 1927, the Mexican government decided to collaborate with the Social Science Research Council in order that future investigations might be made on a larger scale, and charged the author with this collaboration.' Scope and method of stud .—When we began this study, we were disconcerte by the magnitude of the task and the dif- ficulties which the problem of Mexican immigration into the United States presented. Because of this initial uncertainty and the fact that we could spend only a year on our work, we decided from the beginning to make it purely exploratory. We then reduced to three the numerous points of view or modes of attack which we had been following while trying to define our problem. These points of attack, or divisions of the subject, are the following: (I) Human material: This would include the data relative to the direct investigation of the Mexican immi- grants, that is, the data obtained from personal contact with them in the United States as well as in the Mexican regions from which they come. (2) Geographic material: This would consist of the data obtained by direct observation of the Mexi- can and American regions in which the immigrants had lived. (3) Documentary material: This would consist of data already in existence relative to the individuals and regions to which the human and geographical material already cited refer. These data would be taken not only from printed publications but also from all unpublished material which it might be possible to consult. Httmax–maLerial.—For the purpose of our study it was neces- sary to consider the immigrant before his departure to the United States, during his residence there, and also in his re- patriated condition as reimmigrant to Mexico. Furthermore, Unfortunately, this collaboration has lasted only until June, 1927, on account of the limited finances of the Mexican government. INTRODUCTION ix it was necessary in addition to take into account American citizens of Mexican origin, or Mexican-Americans in the United States. We therefore visited the American regions where live the principal groups of Mexican immigrants, as well as the Mexican-Americans, including in our itinerary Illinois, Indi- ana, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. In Mexico we made surveys in the central and northern plateaus, —principally in the states of Guanajuato, /"- Jalisco, and Michoacan, from which at the present _time _ the majority of immigrants come., Because it was absolutely im- possible for us to investigate in a thorough, sciehtific manner the physical, mental, social, cultural, economic, and other con- ditions of these individuals, in order later to be able to deter- mine the character of their contacts with the people of the United States and with the American civilization, we had to be content with mere observation, objective and subjective. The objective observation consisted in considering these indi- viduals and their conditions of life when they were not con- scious of such observation. In order to accomplish this purpose without talking with them or asking questions, we went to their fields of work, their factories, railroad camps, mines, schools, churches, lodges, amusement centers, commercial centers, and so on. Furthermore, we went into their homes, tried their meals, attended their funerals, and visited their prisons and hospitals where they were interned. Lack of experience and ignorance of the social environment in which we made our in- vestigations made our task difficult; but by frequent compari- sons and repeated observations we succeeded in clarifying these observations. In order to make this work in the United States more efficient, we chose as assistants Miss Elena Landazuri, Sc.B., and Mr. Luis F. Recinos, because they spoke English, had a certain knowledge of the American environment, and, what was very important, knew how to get the sympathy and INTRODUCTION confidence of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Moreover, the former had important experience in social relief work, and the latter had been a newspaper man for a number of years— circumstances which in both cases were of great value in the work of investigation. Mr. Eduardo Noguera aided us ef- fectively in the investigation of immigrants before they left Mexico. He is a member of the Direccién of Anthropology. Mr. Eugene Gomez also assisted us for a short time. The subjective observation consisted in finding out from the individual himself what had been the character of his material and mental life. Our first experiences in this work confirmed what modern sociological methods have already indicated, that the value of autobiographies is generally slight and relative. In fact, we deduced by various means, among them the compari- son of the objective and subjective observations made, that the answers frequently did not agree with the real characteristics of their lives which we had beforehand observed directly—a circumstance which indicated that the biographies were of doubtful veracity. This was perhaps due to our abrupt intru- sion and interrogation, which did not awaken in him a true process of introspection nor stimulate his memory as we had hoped, but created emotional reactions to our presence, such as fear, distrust, displeasure, and so on, or else satisfaction or vanity. In view of this fact, we gradually corrected the method of observation, as far as was possible, in the following way. The objective and subjective studies already made had enabled us to formulate a guide or classification of the most important mental and material typical characteristics of a series of indi- viduals! Provided with this guide and aided at times by infor- mation furnished us about the person to be interviewed, we talked with him when he was in the company of other persons, This guide is included in Appendix I to this volume. INTRODUCTION xi taking great care not to question him or even refer to his person or his life. We chatted in simple language upon subjects suit- able to his interests and interposed remarks and comments upon other persons and their lives; after this we waited pa- tiently his response, either in the same interview or on some later occasion. Our pretense of interest in the persons and lives of other individuals as well as in affairs entirely foreign to the persons interviewed and our own silence and indifference in re- gard to himself generally awoke in his mind a process of in- trospection: His memory was stimulated; reactions relating to the present arose and reactions of the past were recalled--all of which yielded a body of statements and confidences satisfac- tory because of their sincerity and spontaneity. When the con- fidence of the individual was thus once gained and he found himself in a state of voluntary eloquence, the observation was completed by direct questioning. As soon as the interviews were at an end we wrote down the results obtained. Occasion- ally in the course of these interviews we took notes under suit- able pretexts so that our subjects might not be conscious that we were transcribing their ideas and their words.