Immigration

The U.S. has a long history of engagement with Latin America, which differs by country and time period. How the U.S. pursued its political and economic interests in Latin American countries affected the politics within the individual counties as well as the facility by which people can emigrate from those countries to the US and the legal terms by which they can do so. 

Social upheaval in Mexico that followed economic restring that integrated the US into Mexico’s economy led to a sharp increase in immigration from Mexico to the U.S. Porfirio Díaz became president of Mexico through revolt in 1876. To push economic development, Díaz undertook a massive restructuring of the Mexican economy. Many of the development efforts were funded by U.S.-based companies, leading to greater involvement of the US in Mexico’s economy. By the end of Díaz’s presidency, U.S. companies owned 80 percent of railroads, 75 percent of mines, and 50 percent of oil fields in Mexico. During this period, there was also a significant industrialization; Mexico built its first steel mill and expanded into glass and paper making. By the end of Diaz’s presidency, at least 10 percent of production in Mexico was industrial. Moreover, development efforts provided employment opportunities; an estimated 300,000 Mexican workers were employed by American companies. While some of these workers stayed to work in Mexico, others were recruited by American companies to work in the southwestern U.S. As it was in those companies’ interests to have continued migration, they lobbied Congress to create a path for Mexican workers to immigrate to the U.S. That path became particularly relevant during and immediately after the Mexican revolution. After 31 years in office, Díaz refused to leave and an armed struggle broke out, lasting roughly from 1910 to 1920. This ten year period of social upheaval, refugees, political exiles, and others seeking work used the pathways secured by U.S. companies to immigrate to the U.S. As a result, legal immigration grew from 20,000 immigrants per year in 1910 to 50,000 – 100,000 per year in the 1920s.

U.S. actions following the occupation of Puerto Rico in 1898 increased the number of Puerto Ricans immigrating to the U.S. The U.S. invaded Puerto Rico as a strategic move in the Spanish-American war. At the time, Puerto Rico was a Spanish territory, so the U.S. forcing Spain out would provide an advantage in the war but also the U.S. sought to develop a sugar market there. At the end of the war, Puerto Rico was ceded to the U.S. and was later established as an unincorporated territory, which gave Puerto Ricans the freedom to immigrate to the U.S. Puerto Rican sugar was given priority in the U.S. as it entered the U.S. tariff-free and the Puerto Rican sugar industry boomed. At the same time, the U.S. government sought to ‘modernize’ the Puerto Rican economy and expand into other industries. Puerto Rico approved the 1947 Industrial Incentives Act, which encouraged U.S. companies to move to the island by providing tax breaks, low-cost labor, and land. As a result, new factories were built, and factory employment grew by 20 percent. However, industrialization coincided with a decline in the agrarian sector as well as the population growth. In 1950, 40 percent of the workers had worked on farms; by the late 1980s, it had fallen to just 3 percent. High rates of unemployment created an incentive for Puerto Ricans to leave and many did. During the 1950s, 21 percent of the island’s population immigrated to the U.S.

The passage of the Platt Amendment between the U.S. and Cuba created a framework for future American involvement in Cuba. The amendment allowed the U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs anytime  the U.S. felt it was necessary. In the 20 years following the passage of the Platt Amendment, the U.S. used its military intervene in Cuban affairs: from 1906 to 1909 when president Plama’s government collapsed, in 1912 to end the Afro-Cuban Revolution, and again from 1917 to 1922 in response to insurgency in Cuba. In all of these instances, the U.S. was acting to protect American economic interests and property. As a result of continuing U.S. presence, the U.S. and Cuban economies became increasingly interrelated. By 1926, 60 percent of the Cuban sugar industry was owned by U.S. companies. The U.S. intervened again in 1933, sending military and foreign service members. Even after the Platt Amendment was revoked, American presence continued to be felt in Cuba. By 1960, U.S.-based companies owned 90 percent of Cuban mines, 80 percent of public utilities, 50 percent of railways, 40 percent of sugar production, and 25 percent of all bank deposits. As Cuba's economy became more dependent on America’s, it became weaker and the sugar industry slowed resulting in economic strain and an increase in poverty. Many Cubans fled the country pursuing U.S. economic interests rather than those of its own citizens and that their government was corrupt. In 1953, violent revolution broke out leading to a wave of immigration to the U.S. as people fled from the violence. Further, after the revolution ended in 1959 and Fidel Castro took power and made Cuba a communist state, approximately 1.4 million Cubans left for the U.S. As a part of its Cold War strategy, the U.S. encouraged Cuban immigration. Cuban immigrants were given preferential treatment under the 1966 Cuban Refugee Act, even today Cubans are granted automatic residency based on their being in the U.S.

The U.S. became involved in Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban affairs for both domestic and international political reasons. These interventions have both directly and indirectly contributed to immigration. In all three cases looked at, U.S. intervention created a path for immigration as well as fueled domestic conditions that provided incentive for immigrants to leave their home countries.