In this chapter of One out of Three: Mexicans: Civil Engagement, Education, and Process Achieved and Inhibited,” the author provides a history of Mexican immigration in NYC and discusses their place in civic engagement and education. Mexicans, more than any other immigrant group in NYC, are undocumented because of congressional reforms in the 1990s.

What I found interesting was the discussion of how CUNY is at the forefront of reaching out to Mexicans and making education accessible for this group that has low numbers of people completing high school and college and who often don’t even enroll in college. My question is, do you think institutions like CUNY are successful in helping Mexicans break out of the patterns and receive an education? Or do you think it is more important for the government to be involved in making public policy that makes education more accessible?

Robert Courtney Smith writes that before the 1990s, 85% of undocumented Mexican immigrants were able to go back in any year. However this changed when crossing the border became more dangerous, difficult, and expensive, and Mexicans had less faith in their country. If the Mexican economy improved and crossing the border became easier, what affect would these have on immigration policy in the United States?

The article states that undocumented Hispanics are actually less-prevalent in New York than they are throughout the United States. I found that somewhat surprising considering New York would have many construction and development jobs that these workers could obtain. Is it possible that undocumented Hispanics are turned away by the diversity in New York, opting for more wholly Hispanic communities that they’d feel at home in? Is it perhaps just a money/economic reason?

While reading the chapter in  Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century on Mexican immigration, it became more and more clear to me that with the number of illegal immigrants we have, there is seemingly no way to completely resolve the issue. The United States cannot deport every illegal immigrant and the illegal immigrants have little to no chance of being legalized. What other issue must be dealt with before one can think of stopping illegal immigration? (Such as the political issues in the immigrants home countries) Adding on to that question, is there anything that the United States can do to help resolve whatever issues exist?

The article states that Korean business owners, after a time, were reluctant to hire Korean immigrants as employees because of their tendency to leave and open their own businesses after being trained. With so many Koreans immigrating to the US, surely this pattern happened numerous times. If it became a cycle, wouldn’t the businesses not be doing as well as they originally had because of increased competition? And, if so, maybe after some time some stores would move or close down and immigrants would realize that they should either stay with their employer or open up somewhere else?

Koreans dominate small businesses such as grocery stores and dry cleaners. According to the reading, Koreans also exploit laborers of other ethnicities, such as Mexicans and Ecuadoreans. Such action, while it might benefit the owners, abuse the rights of the laborers and displace Korean employees. This might lead to the conclusion that Korean store owners should either not employ not so many other-ethnicity workers or give them better treatment. However, the laborers are still working, however unfair, and the Korean store owners are not willing to sacrifice their profits to better treat their workers. How can this unjust situation be “corrected”- benefit all the people involved- in a capitalist society where exploitation of workers are the norm? Is it even possible?