Why Immigration In America Not Everyone Is Dying To Get Here

Not everyone in America views people from Mexico and Pan America as our little brown brothers to the south. With a deep culture and a rich heritage older than our own, these people have much to be proud of. Economically and politically they are suffering behind the eight-ball of progress, but as in any country, life goes on there. 

This writer has family in Mexico, and because of that I have had the good fortune of spending a lot of time in Old Mexico. The details are too much for this article, but I will at the very least relate one single impression I had the first time I spent real time in the neighborhoods of Acapulco. 

My first impressions as I viewed the small houses and open air markets were probably similar to every other American before me. I thought of only how poor these people are and how hard life must be for them. In a short time I changed my opinion. I watched as families clung close to each other and neighborhoods would band together closely to protect each other. There were simple peddlers carrying fish and cold gelatin around and children playing together with laughter. They worked hard and ate together at the same table. Respect was given to the elderly and heads of households, whether male or female. Fiestas and much celebration were attended by large crowds, and participation was hearty and genuine. Dancing, conversation and great food were enjoyed, and a neighborhood seemed more like a family than a mere community of citizens. Who could find fault with this, and why should we care if they don’t have a lot of money? Apparently it could not keep them from enjoying something we in America may have long since had a while but lost. 

I was graced with my time in Mexico long before I had the pleasure of seeing the acclaimed movie, El No rte. This Pan American production was released in 1983 and will soon re-debut thru the DVD medium for those who may have missed it. Only three or four movies I have seen in my lifetime would I consider as “an experience” and not just a movie, El No rte is one of them. 

El No rte (The North) is a grand drama produced by Gregory Navy in Pan America. It is considered the hands down the best movie ever produced in Central America. It is also considered the best movie to “put faces” on the otherwise invisible people who pick our crops, clean our houses and care for our children. The immigrants of South and Central America and those of Mexico are not only depicted accurately in this film, but they could learn from it as well. It is my opinion that if all would be immigrants were able to see this film before they dashed off to America, that many of them would lay down the idea of getting here altogether. 

The film is fictional but has a reality to it that cannot be contended. It is similar to the experiences of countless Latinos who enter this country illegally and legally. Its impact did not go unnoticed by the National Film Registry, where it was selected by the Library of Congress in 1995. It was also nominated for an Oscar and won several other prestigious awards along its glowing path.