Semester #2 Blog #15

1. What major people, places, concepts, events or things would have influenced the lives of the people in your story? How or why?

"At the beginning of the 1980s, Mexico’s economy was teetering, shaken by the nation's worst recession since the 1930s. In 1982, the peso was devalued repeatedly during the country’s economic crisis. High unemployment pushed more migrants to find work in the United States."

(http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/mexico704/history/timeline.html). The big economic crisis in Mexico influenced my dad's life because of that he immigrated to the US. The reason he immigrated to the US was because of the corruption going on in Mexico, caused by the economic crisis. He also immigrated to the US for a better life, because with all the poverty and things going on in Mexico, he didn't see a great future if he stayed there.

"When Miguel De La Madrid Hurtado assumed the presidency in 1982, Mexico's economy was on the verge of collapse. The government imposed vast austerity measures and in 1985 signed with foreign creditors the first stage of a 14 year debt restructuring plan. In September 1985, the Mexican economy suffered an additional setback when earthquakes severely damaged the capital, killing and injuring thousands." (http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2-mexican-history-a-brief-summary) During the time my dad immigrated to the US the president of Mexico was Miguel De La Madrid Hurtado and when he became the president in 1982, the economy in Mexico was pretty bad, like I said before. There were also erathquakes going on in 1985 that killed many. All this things forced people, like my dad, to immigrate to the US.

"In 1986, Congress passed more legislation with the Immigration Reform and Control Act, aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigration by cracking down on U.S. employers who hire illegal immigrants. The act also granted an amnesty to illegal workers already in the United States, giving more than 2.7 million people legal status." This is how my dad was able to become legal in the US. He was very lucky to have immigrated to the US in the early 1980's and not after because then he wouldn't have been able to become legal. This influenced his life because he was able to freely create a life in the US without having a fear of being deported for being illegal. 

Ronald Reagan was the US president from 1981-1989, so basically the 1980's. "...Reagan obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national defense. He embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and Government expenditures, refusing to deviate from it when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large deficit...Overall, the Reagan years saw a restoration of prosperity, and the goal of peace through strength seemed to be within grasp." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/ronaldreagan)

2. How might the people in your story have acted differently if they had more information about their setting? What information would have changed their personal history?

Well, if there hadn't been an economic crisis during the 1980's then my dad would have probably not immigrated to the US. He would have tried to make a good life in Mexico instead of having to go through the effort of being able to cross the border. If there hadn't been an economic crisis in Mexico, and he hadn't immigrated to the US in the 1980's then his whole personal history after that would have changed. First of all, he wouldn't have moved to San Francisco, which would mean he wouldn't have met my mom, and I wouldn't be here right now. Second of all, he wouldn't have become legal to the US and therefore probably wouldn't have stayed in the US for a long time. It was necessary for him to immigrate to the US in the early 1980's because of he had done it after than he would have probably not become legal and wouldn't have met my mom.

 Using different sources that you found...
4. Post at least two pieces of media (or multimedia) that the people in your story would have seen, heard, or otherwise been aware of. How would they have interpetted the material?

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/05/us/facts-on-amnesty-plan-for-illegal-aliens-in-us.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm - This is a New York Times newspaper article published in May 5th, 1987 telling the immigrants that on "Tuesday"  they could apply for legal status. It is most likely that my parents read this newspaper because it gave them facts on the amnesty plan for immigrants in the US. It tells them if they qualify or not and what you need to apply. So it was probably very helpful for them and maybe that is how they found out about the amnesty plan.

http://www.stoykovich.com/amnesty2.jpg- These were probably some of the posters my parents would see in the streets, when immigrants were asking for an amnesty.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZBJ_2kH40um3YVQXrqkKYzpuUeiagGV6uXNROzC5tMcelMvhuDhuSENhUNY1I4pxhzoukWifDPliDhzCwYp_yEafhw1wWYPCHtOAOU8ziqgDWAclTDllkuq7xCFh3_ZeL6xiwd4gG8x23/s1600/Ronald-Reagan1.jpeg - My parents probably saw this image everywhere, which is Ronald Reagan signing the Immigration Reform. This really helped my parents because that is why they were able to become legal.

Semester #2 Blog #14

1. Post at least two primary documents from your research into your family history.
2. Post a list of relevant historical or cultural facts about the setting of your family story (government, world events, popular culture, religious events, etc.)

What stands out to you about the historical or cultural context of your family story?

Before starting this project and doing the historical and cultural context assignment, I didn't know my family had so many different stories that had to do with things like health, and war, and immigration. I didn't know my grandpa was a general in the Salvadoran army. I didn't know that my grandma died because she got a stroke after getting her leg amputated, and so many other things. This project has helped me learn a lot more stories about my family. The story of my family I decided to write about was the immigration of parents to the US in the 1980's. What stood out to me about the historical or cultural context of my family's immigration in the 1980's was that in the 1980's in the US the president and others were trying to do an amnesty to give illegal people papers so they would become legal. Because my parents immigrated around that time they were able to become legal.   

New York Times article from the 1980's talking about the amnesty and trying to give illegal people papers:
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/05/us/facts-on-amnesty-plan-for-illegal-aliens-in-us.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
What stands out to you about the setting of the story?

I still don't really have a setting to my story. I am thinking of combining my mom and dad's immigration stories. My dad immigrated here from Mexico and my mom immigrated hre from El Salvador, but in order to immigrate to the US she had to move to Mexico first. So the setting of my story will mostly be in Mexico (Baja California) and California (San Francisco and Cochella). What stands out to me about the setting of my story was that during the early 1980's there was an economic crisis in Mexico causing many Hispanics to immigrate to the US for a better life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Mexico#1982_crisis_and_recovery

What about the historical or cultural setting seems most relevant to your story?

Well as I was saying, there was an economic crisis in Mexico in the early 1980's, causing a lot of Hipanics to immigrate to the US. One of the reasons my dad immigrated to the US around that time because of the corruption in Mexico at that time, which was caused by the economic crisis. The situation in the US at that time, was pretty good and that made people come to the US.

Immigration
-My dad immigrated from Mexico to the USA a couple of times
-Back in the 1970's and 1980's it was easier so he would go in to the US, then go back to Ensenada then cross again until he became a legal resident later on in the late 1980's
-The first time he came to the US was when he was about 17, in 1971, and then he went back to Ensenada, then returned to the US to stay here in 1981
-My mom immigrated from El Salvador with her brothers to the USA (San Francisco) in 1984, right after her mom died
-She first came to Mexico, Tijuana and then she crossed to the US
-Economic situation of Mexico in the 1980's (http://www.econ.umn.edu/~tkehoe/papers/ChileMexico.pdf )
-"At the beginning of the 1980s, Mexico’s economy was teetering, shaken by the nation's worst recession since the 1930s. In 1982, the peso was devalued repeatedly during the country’s economic crisis. High unemployment pushed more migrants to find work in the United States." (http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/mexico704/history/timeline.html )
-Newspaper article talking about "illegal aliens" and how they were trying to give them papers at that time, which was how my parents became legal in this country (http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/05/us/facts-on-amnesty-plan-for-illegal-aliens-in-us.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm)
-Newspaper article about the increase of Hispanics immigrating to the US during the 1980's (http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/11/us/hispanic-population-growing-5-times-as-fast-as-rest-of-us.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm )
-They met in San Francisco; they met because they had both immigrated to the same place around the same time (1980's)
-Immigration to the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States )
-Talks about immigration and the immigration rates from 1700-1998 (http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/cohn.immigration.us )
-Contains links to many articles about immigration (http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/301/Immigration-Laws-Policies-Since-1980s.html )
-Once they had both lived in San Francisco for a few years they moved back to Mexico for about 12 years and then they came back to San Francisco and then we moved to San Diego
-Immigration at that time was very common; it was also a lot easier than it is to get to the US now
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_(1980%E2%80%931991)    
(http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/05/us/facts-on-amnesty-plan-for-illegal-aliens-in-us.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm)