part A and B

 

Part A 

The history of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is important because it explains how many Mexican people became part of the United States through conquest, not migration. After the Mexican-American War in 1848, Mexico lost a large amount of land, and Mexicans living in that land were placed under U.S. control. This history helps explain Chicanx identity because it shows how imperialism and colonialism shaped Mexican American life inside U.S. borders. It also connects to white supremacy because Mexicans were often treated as racially inferior and were excluded from full political and social rights, even when they were legally considered citizens. This history intersects with Native American history because both groups experienced land loss and oppression under settler colonialism. However, Native Americans were treated as separate nations and faced genocide and forced removal, while Mexicans were absorbed into the U.S. and then racialized as second-class people within the new system (Espinoza-Kulick and Acevedo 6.2).

Part B 

U.S. immigration policy and the border have helped racialize immigrants by labeling certain groups as “illegal” and criminal. Professor Tsuchitani explains that the border became a tool of exclusion, especially after Border Patrol was created in 1924 (Tsuchitani Week 5 Lecture 2). The reading also explains that immigration policy and immigrant policy both control immigrants, including through enforcement systems like ICE (Espinoza-Kulick and Acevedo 6.5). This racialization increases vulnerability because undocumented immigrants have fewer protections and more fear. Both the reading and lecture show that capitalism benefits because vulnerable immigrants are easier to exploit for cheap labor (Tsuchitani Week 5 Lecture 2; Espinoza-Kulick and Acevedo 6.5).

U.S. immigration policy and the border have played a major role in the racialization of immigrants because certain groups are labeled as “illegal” and treated like criminals. In Professor Tsuchitani’s lecture, I learned that the border has been used as a tool for exclusion for over a century, especially after the Border Patrol was created in 1924. This part stood out to me because it showed that immigration is not just about laws, but also about race and power. I also realized that when immigrants do not have legal status, they become more vulnerable because they have fewer protections and less ability to defend themselves. This vulnerability makes it easier for employers to exploit immigrant labor by paying low wages and offering unstable work. The lecture helped me see how capitalism benefits from this system because migrant workers are often treated as disposable labor instead of human beings. I also connected this to NAFTA, because the lecture explained that NAFTA damaged Mexico’s economy by displacing farmers and increasing poverty. This made me think that migration is often caused by economic survival, not personal choice. Overall, this lecture helped me understand the strong connection between racialization, vulnerability, and capitalist labor exploitation (Tsuchitani Week 5 Lecture 2).

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 focus on imperialism andimmigration.

 understanding the immigration crisis.

Largely through the film, feature-length documentary called

 Harvest of Empire, The Untold Story of Latinos

in America.

We'll review some immigration and deportation

policies, just a brief history.

 Chican X Latinx Studies material.

 For you to connect it with what's happening in

the world, in the U.S. right now.

Scott Tsuchitani: What are the structural causes behind the

immigration crisis?

What are the structural causes behind the immigration crisis?

Scott Tsuchitani: And when 3 minutes is up, I will

Scott Tsuchitani: Same with the Japanese.

Scott Tsuchitani: they get excluded. So, Korean and Indian.

Scott Tsuchitani: Same thing, and then eventually it's, Filipinos

who are not exactly immigrants, because they had

Scott Tsuchitani: What are the structural causes behind the

immigration crisis? Today, we're going to look at Latinx

immigration to the U.S, especially from Mexico, Central America,

and the Caribbean.

Scott Tsuchitani: And structurally, looking at your response to

the question might have somehow if you're not familiar with

Democracy Now! the show that

Scott Tsuchitani: Gonzalez co-hosts, I highly recommend it as a

source of reliable news in this age of misinformation and

Scott Tsuchitani: Fox News bias, and yeah, AI slop. Check out

Democracy Now! It's great, independent.

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Scott Tsuchitani: And they're really good with their coverage of

race and immigration.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So, a quote from, Juan Gonzalez, they never

teach us in school that the huge Latino presence here is a direct

result of our own government's actions in Mexico, the Caribbean,

and Central America over many decades.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Actions that forced millions from that region

to leave their homeland and journey north.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So the film provides a rare and powerful

glimpse into the enormous sacrifices and rarely noted triumphs

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Scott Tsuchitani: of our nation's growing Latino community.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So it looks both at the

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Scott Tsuchitani: kind of these systemic interventions of the

U.S.

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Scott Tsuchitani: To serve capitalist needs, and the instability

that caused to drive migration, but it also looks at, and

provides direct first-person accounts of

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Scott Tsuchitani: Latinx immigrants and their children, Through

that effect of that on pushing migration to the U.S.

Scott Tsuchitani: So, specifically, the viewing guide asks you to

pay attention

Scott Tsuchitani: to these countries, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba,

Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

Scott Tsuchitani: Before it gets into these countries, the film

talks about Puerto Rico. I didn't include it on this list,

because it's not a separate country, it's a U.S. territory, but,

Scott Tsuchitani: So that will precede these sections of the

film.

Scott Tsuchitani: Even though immigration is such an issue or

topic, In the news media,

Scott Tsuchitani: They never give us this context, so you might

wonder.

Scott Tsuchitani: Why is it always in the news, but we don't

really have a structural understanding of what's causing it?

Scott Tsuchitani: And think about, instead, what the news is

telling you, and how it reinforces these,

Scott Tsuchitani: Racialization of immigrants spouted by The,

current administration, the highest elected official in the land,

spouting racist rhetoric

 about immigrants, And Framework?

Let's look at some U.S. immigration and

deportation policies.

00:18:10.990 --> 00:18:15.510

Scott Tsuchitani: There's a lot more than this, just highlighting

some here.

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Scott Tsuchitani: For perspective, so 1790, Immigration

Naturalization Act, only free whites could become citizens. So,

again, From the founding.

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Scott Tsuchitani: of this nation, founded in white nationalism,

right? A white nation. That's who counted as American.

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Scott Tsuchitani: And we saw what happened when they brought in

Chinese Labor and Exclusion Act, right, first racially targeted,

specifically in the name, effective for over 60 years.

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Scott Tsuchitani: 1924, the creation of border

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Scott Tsuchitani: repatriated or deported from the U.S.

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Scott Tsuchitani: after the Great Depression, during and after

the Depression, Mexican workers were scapegoated for the

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Scott Tsuchitani: you know, as labor competition during the

Depression.

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Scott Tsuchitani: The thing is, 40-60% of those who repatriated

or were deported were actually U.S. citizens.

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Scott Tsuchitani: 1942-64, the Bracero program, also discussed in

Harvest of Empire.

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Scott Tsuchitani: exploitable temporary migrant labor, especially

capitalist inclusion of exploitable labor, but temporary, right?

Not allowed permanent residency status or a path to

naturalization, just cheap, exploitable labor.

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Scott Tsuchitani: 1943 was the repeal of Chinese exclusion.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So, post-war, 1950, 1954, government policy

Operation Wetback, so wetback being a racist, derogatory term.

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Scott Tsuchitani: For migrant laborers from south of the border.

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Scott Tsuchitani: This operation involved military-style removal

Of immigrants, but not address the Control Act part of it,

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Scott Tsuchitani: So this was, further securitization of the

border, Yeah, securitization and policing, so, increased

criminalization of immigration.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So, I wanna

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Scott Tsuchitani: pulling Asian immigration to the U.S, labor

exploitation, Native ex This week.

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Scott Tsuchitani: But this week, it's through the border.

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Scott Tsuchitani: As a site of racialization and exclusion.

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Scott Tsuchitani: But also, from a Chicana feminist standpoint.

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Scott Tsuchitani: The possibility of a space of agency.

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Scott Tsuchitani: And

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Scott Tsuchitani: single concept Settler colonialism, right?

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Scott Tsuchitani: Week 3, Native American Studies, Systemic

Racism, week 4, Asian American Studies

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Scott Tsuchitani: let's see, 101 years, that might have been when

I started teaching here a couple years ago. So it's been over a

century, since the creation of the border.

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Scott Tsuchitani: And the border has been racializing immigrants

as criminal, right, as illegal.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Ever since the Border Patrol was created,

here's some

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Scott Tsuchitani: naturalization Secure Fence Act, promising 700

miles of fencing along the U.S. border.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So, this is earlier history, and then

Especially if you don't have legal status, that makes you even

more vulnerable.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So One way to rethink the concept of the border

comes from Chicana feminist Gloria Anzaldua.

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Scott Tsuchitani: in his canonical work, Borderlands, or La

Frontera, The New Mestiza.

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Scott Tsuchitani: From 1987.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So

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Scott Tsuchitani: Not one or the other, but New futures, new

imagination.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Through the power of being in between, to

challenging the construction of borders and difference.

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Scott Tsuchitani: The new mestiza Consciousness is one that

recognizes the fluidity of culture and position.

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Scott Tsuchitani: claiming This chapter is included as a

supplemental reading, highly recommended if

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Scott Tsuchitani: You find interest in these ideas, these really

powerful ideas.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So, this Fixed thinking, fixed ideas.

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Scott Tsuchitani: It means death, because things are just static,

they're frozen, they're stuck in the past. Not just the past, but

a past that's

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Scott Tsuchitani: structured by hierarchies.

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Scott Tsuchitani: power, right? Patriarchy, colonialism, white

supremacy. So

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Scott Tsuchitani: The question of North American Free Trade

Agreement, who benefits, right?

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Scott Tsuchitani: So, as you saw in the film, it removes tariffs

and barriers to trade between U.S, Canada, and Mexico.

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Scott Tsuchitani: But in doing so, removed market, labor, and

environmental protections for Mexico.

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Scott Tsuchitani: And it took the form of an increased number of

export processing zones along the U.S.-Mexico border, called

Maquiladoras.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Duty and tariff-free factories.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Nafta had a devastating impact on Mexico, it

really benefited

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Scott Tsuchitani: U.S. corporations, U.S. capitalist interests.

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Scott Tsuchitani: The first year of NAFTA in Mexico.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Wages down 40-50%, cost of living up 80%,

Thousands of indigenous farmers displaced.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Right? Through that import of U.S. corn, just

devastating the local

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Scott Tsuchitani: local farm destruction to Mexico in terms of

local environment, local economies.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Families, because it was a gendered workforce,

As well as state agencies.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So, huge toll to Mexico.

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Scott Tsuchitani: for the benefit of the U.S.

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Scott Tsuchitani: On the ground, in the maquiladoras, these were

foreign-owned factories in Mexico, which imported parts were

assembled.

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Scott Tsuchitani: By low-paid workers, into products for export.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Right, exempt from

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Scott Tsuchitani: Gendered labor exploitation, so mostly women

Workers, and also femicide, so about that fight.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Hour and 9 minutes.

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Scott Tsuchitani: This one is available through Foothill's Canopy

Catalog, as well as your public library, so

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Scott Tsuchitani: this element of humor and performance, right?

So, a play on words, narco trafficante, which you

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Scott Tsuchitani: you know, through TV shows or movies about drug

traffickers,

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Scott Tsuchitani: So they're engaging in a subversive practice

that I do in my own art practice called

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Scott Tsuchitani: appropriation, or reappropriation. So they're

taking that term.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Which has

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Scott Tsuchitani: identify themselves as libro traficantes,

right? They're trafficking books.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So that video's embedded here.

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Scott Tsuchitani: And I've got a couple prompts,

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Scott Tsuchitani: Reflect upon the value and efficacy of this

activism.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So what can you learn about doing this kind of

work from watching the video of what the Libro Traficantes did?

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Scott Tsuchitani: What was their actual goal or intention? How

did they achieve it?

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Scott Tsuchitani: What role did the media play in influencing the

outcome?

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Scott Tsuchitani: So

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Scott Tsuchitani: slide, the video's actually embedded in the

PowerPoint.

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Scott Tsuchitani: So I recommend you watch that. I'm gonna skip

through it so we don't get stuck on that slide. It's five and a

half minutes. Please watch it.

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Scott Tsuchitani: And so, hopefully you just watched that five

and a half minute video on the Libro Trafficantes, and This

lecture,

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Scott Tsuchitani: If you have any questions, let me know.

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Scott Tsuchitani: Have a great weekend.