Comparison of Russian Jewish and Mexican Immigration to the U.S

The Jews of Russia and Eastern Europe began their migration to American during the 1880s. The Russian Jews were a persecuted ethnic minority and were forced to live in an area known as the Pale of Settlement, a treacherous region between the Baltic and Black Sea. The soil was sandy and the climate was dry, so it was impossible to make a living by farming. Furthermore, the Jews were prohibited from owning land, so they lived in urban areas where they worked as merchants and craftspeople. Family was very important. Studying Judaism was an honor and the most revered individual was the father, who read and taught the holy works. If the husband was a holy man, he did this all the time and did not work outside the home. It was the woman’s responsibility to work outside the home. When the sewing machine was introduced to the Russian Jewish communities, many Russian Jewish women were able to stay at home, sew, and make money selling clothes.

Life in the Pale was filled with paranoia because of the anti-Jewish violence and the dreaded pogroms. As a result of the pogroms, large numbers of Jews were massacred and many shops, homes, and places of worship were destroyed. In 1881, Czar Alexander II was assassinated and the blame fell on Russian Jewish men. The Jews realized that Russia was not a safe home for them, so they immigrated to America in search of freedom and a better life.

After a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, the Russian Jews arrived at Ellis Island, the immigration center of America. The majority of the Russian Jewish immigrants were educated and literate. Although the Jews were poor, they were the most skilled immigrant group to arrive in the United States. Approximately 66% of all Russian-Jewish immigrants could list skills. Also, the Russian Jews came to the United States as settlers. Unlike most other European groups and some Asian groups, they planned to stay in America. Almost half of the Russian-Jewish immigrants were women. Children accounted for 25% of the Jewish immigrants.

A large portion of the Russian Jewish immigrant population settled in the Lower East Side of New York City. The Russian Jewish settlements were very densely populated. Family roles for the Russian Jews in America were reversed from what they were in the Pale. The majority of the men worked as peddlers, but could become lawyers, doctors, etc.. The wife was to stay home and do domestic work. Like in the Pale, some females ran sewing business out of the home. Male children were expected to go to school. The establishment of the CCNY made this easier, as young men could receive a tuition-free college education. Female children were to continue to master the sewing trade. Some young women found work outside the home in clothing factories.

The success of Jews in America seemed to invite anti-Semitism. As the Russian Jewish immigrants assimilated into society and became more successful, they began to spread out, leaving the Lower East Side. This angered residents of areas such as Harlem. In 1917, the Russian Revolution brought Lenin to power. Many Americans see Russians as possible Communists, even Russian Jews. Because of this fear of Communism, J. Edgar Hoover gathered 249 Russian Jews and sent them back to Russia (the Soviet Union). In 1924, the Immigration Restriction Act was passed, limited the number of people allowed into the U.S..

While the Russian Jews saw America as the “Promised Land”, the immigrants from Mexico knew it as “El Norte”. Prior to the 1900s, Mexicans migrated back-and-forth across the Mexican-American border with some frequency. This was because Mexicans could enter and leave without passports whenever they wished.

In the U.S., Mexicans were unable to buy land, so the majority of immigrants worked as tenant farmers and sharecroppers for large landholders who bought up many small farms.

Between 1821 and 1875, 75 different governments came to power in Mexico. Out of this political instability came Porfirio Diaz, who took power in 1876. Diaz was a dictator who did a terrible job of distributing the wealth within the country. In 1910, political opponents of Diaz overthrew him. Supporters of Diaz, the majority of the Mexican upper class, fled from Mexico and sought refuge in cities like San Antonio and El Paso. These Mexicans were accepted into white society because they were upper class, educated professionals. As the governments in Mexico continued to change, the U.S. became a sanctuary for overthrown political groups and their supporters.

Many Mexican immigrants were pushed from Mexico by poverty and the threats of war. Much like the persecuted Russian Jews, the Mexicans did not feel safe in their home country, so they decided to make a new home in America. In addition, the economy in Mexico at the time was horrible, so immigrants came to the U.S. in search of work and wages. The development of transportation fueled the Mexican migration to the U.S.. Railroads allowed peasants to travel north to the U.S., escaping the war and the downtrodden economic situation. Companies encouraged Mexicans to cross the border because their labor was needed. Mexicans filled job openings in the mining industry as well as the railroad industry. Unlike the highly skilled Russian Jewish immigrants, the majority of the Mexicans were unskilled blue-collar workers who primarily occupied jobs calling for manual labor. Like some Russian Jewish women, many Mexican women found work in the garment factories.

The land where the Russian Jews came from was impossible to farm, so they never acquired agricultural skills and thus did not work in agriculture in the United States. In contrast, the Mexicans had significant experience in agriculture in their native country, which allowed them to work in agriculture in the U.S.. As immigration laws excluded Asian labor, farmers turned to Mexican labor to get the job done. The Mexican agricultural labor became indispensable.

Unlike the Russian Jewish immigrants, the Mexicans found it difficult to assimilate into Anglo society. The Russian Jews were white, and aside from their beards and heavy accents, they more or less “looked” American. The Mexicans had dark complexions, which was not a characteristic of Americans. Mexicans were excluded socially and their children attended segregated schools. While schooled Russian Jews learned to be doctors, lawyers, and other middle to upper class occupations, Mexicans learned to be obedient workers and were taught manual-labor skills.