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• 1 media/u06_dark_red.gif 2021-04-13T23:55:25-07:00 Introduction B 17 plain 2021-05-02T22:13:49-07:00      When looking at the modern southern border many would be surprised to learn how the border and relationship developed to what border security and immigration is like today. The 1900-1930 saw a large influx of southern immigration and was the highest since the United States of America's founding up to that point. Cities that border the United States of America and Mexico have developed and created a culture unlike any other city as they have witnessed migration, emigration, and constant change in government policy. Within the first thirty years of the twentieth century the US was experiencing great change, but so was Mexico. Mexico was in a state of turmoil both politically and economically due to decisions made by President Porfirio Diaz. Diaz was offered financial support from the U.S. and in turn he decided to modernize the railway system to strengthen his regime and trade with America, however, this decision left people displaced and angry. This heightened the influx of people crossing the border, but it also made the reasoning different from what many would assume. This will be further discussed in chapter one under economy in Mexico and economy in America.
     Many of those who crossed the border were men who were looking for short-term arrangements. Something that could allow for them to make money to support their family and then eventually return to Mexico. However, as much as coming to America was supposed to help, once in the states immigrants were not at ease. The American system and society were largely discriminatory against those that came in from the southern border. During this time citizenship was not solid for people of color and they were still at the mercy of discriminatory practices. In chapter two questions on wages, jobs, and lifestyle will be answered in the best way possible. 
     San Diego and El Paso were and are major hubs for immigration and where many immigrants took up permanent residence. While on the Mexican side their counter parts are Tijuana and Juarez respectively. Each of these cities have been impacted by immigration into the US and the culture and people within it are facts of that. The early twentieth century holds plenty of immigration history both on government policy but also within the life of immigrants on border towns. Crossing the border even in the early twentieth century was not a simple process. Those that crossed into these border towns were faced with a lot problems and instability. El Paso was under Jim Crow laws during this time which not only regulated people based on their race but on the amount of color a person had. Border towns were not a safe haven for immigrants to gather, but those that did come into the border towns left an impact on its culture. Chapter three can provide a more detailed history of this culture and relationship that existed in and around El Paso and San Diego. 
     Throughout this book we hope to inform the readers of the history of border towns and immigrants at the early twentieth century. History is so easily viewed as one note or one event that triggered something but there are many aspects behind immigration. Especially at the US's southern border the dynamics have drastically changed in the past hundred years.